public speaking |
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 public speaking art lucas |
public speaking school topicPublic speaking strikes fear into the hearts of many a grown man and woman.
Some speakers find it easy to use props to help keep them on track with what they want to say during their presentation. For example, I know one man who wears a different hat for each segment of his speech – he changes the hat and replaces it with another when he goes to the next segment. The hats remind him of key points to cover in each portion of his speech. Not at all. But consider this - if your audience isn’t listening – if you’re boring them, you’re not delivering your message in an effective manner. And if you’re not getting through to them – you’re wasting your time and your message is being lost. You don’t have to become a comedian to be a good, but you do have to know when to use humor to get your message across. In truth, public speaking is like anything else we do in life – the more often we do it, the more familiar it becomes and the better we get at it. A surgeon is a better technician after performing 1,000 surgeries than he is performing his first – the same theory applies to a public speaker – the more practice you have, the better a public performer you will be. The dislike or loathing of public speaking stems from fear - the single biggest fear people seem to have is that they’re going to make complete idiots of themselves in front of a live audience. Or maybe that they’ll forget their lines. Or the audience will start throwing rotten tomatoes at them. Or perhaps they’ll pass out in front of all those people. I’ve seen many public speakers forget their lines, or lose their place in their speech, but I’ve never seen anyone pass out. Next, have a “hook” at the very beginning of your presentation - a joke, a one-liner, a poignant story - something that instantly draws your audience into your presentation. Make it funny, make it serious - it doesn’t matter as long as it compliments your presentation - but make it interesting enough to make your audience listen to you. A key point many public speakers forget is that they don’t have to be perfect to be an effective public speaker. You can get tongue-tied, forget whole sections of your speech, go off on a tangent, and not recall your best joke – and the audience may still love you. In fact, they may relate to you better if you’re imperfect than if you got up in front of them and delivered a polished and flawless speech. You’re less intimidating – more like them. Used correctly, props can add a tremendous amount of significance and variety to any presentation and help ensure that your message is received and understood. And that’s what public speaking is all about. Have you ever had the feeling when you get up in front of an audience to give a speech that you’re utterly and completely naked? Not in the real sense, of course, but in the sense that it’s just you, the microphone and the audience. You have no podium to hide behind – no slide projector or pointer – in other words, you have no props. When practicing your presentation and polishing the material – keep an eye out for jokes or one-liners that you can use. Try to find material that integrates with your style – don’t try to steal someone else’s delivery. The audience will respond to you if you just be yourself. A little pre-planning and practice can go a long way toward alleviating that paralyzing fear of getting up in front of a crowd – the more knowledgeable you are about your subject, the more confident you’ll be in your presentation, and the more effective a speaker you’ll be. Keep in mind that almost all audiences – from the guests at a wedding to a political fundraiser – want you to do well, so the chances of tomatoes being tossed in your direction are slight. Like it or not, public speaking is part of the entertainment industry – and even if your message is a serious one – audiences still want to be entertained. If you’ve been hired by an organization or a service club to stand up and deliver a message, you need to be able to do just that – or you won’t be invited back. Nor will you receive any recommendations to address any other group they might be connected with. That doesn’t mean your presentation has to be a “laff-riot” – in fact, your subject matter may not be appropriate for large doses of humor. For example, if you’re addressing cancer survivors, you’d want to tone down the ratio of jokes and one-liners, but if you were speaking to a group of salespeople, you could be a little more free-wheeling. You’ll be the best judge of content, knowing your own message and audiences. Just don’t toss out the humor entirely.
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