Public Speaking NOW

Archive for 2009

In public speaking of any kind, your body is your instrument. This article focuses on the first and arguably most important part of the body: the use of voice in public speaking.

This is of particular importance when deciding how to open a speech.

The voice has several qualities that vary from person to person, as well as varying within each person, whether intentionally or by default. It is the job of the presenter to vary their use of these qualities with intention.

Volume: the loudness or softness of the words. In public speaking, you desire to be heard by everyone in the audience without having to shout. You can lower your volume to draw your audience in, and raise your volume to emphasize a point.

Pitch: the highness or lowness of the words. Speech is musical. Every voice has a “natural register” meaning the range of notes on the musical scale in which they most comfortably and naturally speak. Even a person who speaks in monotone still has pitch, it’s just unvarying (and quite boring). The trick for use of voice in public speaking is to vary your pitch enough to keep your audience interested while sticking only to those notes in your register most pleasing to the human ear. Avoid excessive pitch, speaking too high or too low, unless it’s briefly and to make a point.

Tone: A more subtle characteristic, this has to do with the quality of sound, or its characteristics on how to open a speech. A tone can be harsh and gravelly. Tone can be lilting and airy. It can be filled with laughter and joy or fear and anxiety, insecurity or confidence. Find a balance of the tone most natural to you, pleasing to the listener, and appropriate for the content of your speech. An educational speech, for example, should have an easygoing, pleasant, and inviting tone. While a speech at a political demonstration might be more effective with a bit of anger, provocation, and solidarity in the tone.

Pace: The speed at which the words are spoken. A fast pace at its best is stimulating and promotes a sense of urgency, and at worst can come off as jittery, unclear, and aggressive. A slow pace at its best is comforting, relaxing, and contemplative, and at worst can come across as boring, unprepared, and disinterested.

In order to improve the way you use your voice in public speaking, listen to yourself speak in various settings – while walking, driving, relaxing at home, sitting at work, anywhere. Listen to the way you sound when you speak. Experiment with volume, pitch, tone, and pace – and listen for differences that you find pleasing, and ones you don’t.

To hear yourself best while you speak, cup your hand gently over your ear and pull the ear slightly forward. Cup your other hand over your mouth and divert the sound towards your cupped ear. This will allow you to hear your voice in a way you might not be used to, which happens to sound more like the way other people hear you anyway.

If you have a recording device, even better. Whether a video camera or a tape recorder, record yourself speaking and when you play it back analyze your use of voice in public speaking in terms of volume, pitch, tone, and pace.

Public Speaking is not easy for everybody. For those who hate public speaking, they always have fears to face whenever they do so.

There is always a dread of failure and being humiliated in front of so many people. It is the fear that people are not interested in what you have to say. It is the fear of people of making fun of you. There are so many fears that can stop anybody from doing their speaking engagement!

We need to focus on beating these fears or else we will never speak in front of people, not even in front of 5 people. Not everyone is a natural speaker. The majority, in fact, needs a lot of coaching and much help. Those who were not born to speak have become the best speakers that anybody could have ever known. A perfect example of this is Moses. He was not a born speaker but he was asked to speak in front of so many people in Egypt, in front of Pharaoh and he did it with flying colors.

You can actually conquer your fears by bringing in a couple of public speaking techniques. They will help you have better public speaking skills. You would also need a lot of help such as visual aids. These visual aids will not only help you but will also help your audience understand what you are saying. Plus, they will keep your audience entertained and that is why speakers make use of them in some parts of their speech. Injecting a joke or two helps two because you will put yourself at ease as well as your audience. Do not forget to relax. There are a few relaxation techniques that you can do before you start your speech such as taking a couple of deep breaths.

Public speaking can be terrorizing for most.

It is a fear that most people have. Thus, it is only normal that you feel a little uncomfortable when you have to speak in front of people, whether it is a big or small group. Actually, even an experienced speaker feels a little stage fright. You may not notice it but he feels it. It can be a little unnerving to have to speak to a group of people.

If you are one of those who are terrorized with public speaking, there are a few better public speaking techniques you can do to manage your fear:

• First is be prepared. Preparation is the key to giving good, well-informed speeches. Memorize your speech and bring small note cards to help you out, especially when you have lost your way.
• Second is think positive. Visualize yourself giving a great speech, it does not hurt to follow the law of attraction.
• Third is familiarize yourself with the stage, check the equipment is working. You would not want to cause yourself unnecessary stress when you find out that it isn’t   working during the time when you should be doling out your speech.
• Fourth is meet your audience so you will find a few if not all friendly faces during speech time.

These are a few surefire ways to help give you better public speaking skills.

When doing any form of public speaking, your body is your instrument. This article focuses on body language and public speaking by describing the best ways to tune and play your body for better public speaking.

Whether you’re speaking or not, and regardless of what you are or aren’t saying, your body is always communicating. It’s always communicating messages that are magnified before an audience. For the most effective body language and public speaking experiences, then, it’s vital to become conscious of this nonverbal communication you’re doing all the time – your body language. And more, to learn how to use your body language with purpose and intent in order to communicate what you want to communicate and not what you don’t.

Eyes: Maintaining good eye contact with your audience helps you to regulate the communication flow. It also conveys a sense of intimacy and warmth, showing the audience members that you are genuinely interested in them. Eye contact also increases your credibility. Rather than eyeing the audience in one broad swath, make eye contact with individual members of the audience as you speak, holding one person’s attention for several seconds, then moving on to another person. In this way, the effect given is that you’re speaking to each member of the audience individually.

Face: Your facial expressions are key when speaking in public. A smile is a tremendously powerful indicator to your audience of warmth, friendliness, happiness, and comfort. Smiling, therefore, is an easy way to ensure that you’re perceived as friendly, approachable, receptive, warm, and likable. It’s a contagious behavior that will cause others to naturally react to you more favorably. It will make your audience feel more comfortable sitting there listening to you, and more willing, therefore, to continue doing so.

Hands and Arms: Nothing disengages the eye more than static, motionless, rigidity. In order to stimulate and engage the audience, before you use your hands and arms to illustrate and emphasize what you’re speaking about. Don’t overdo it, of course. You don’t want to be so physically animated that you distract from your own speech. Just watch out that you don’t come across as stiff, boring, and uninterested either. Capture the audience’s attention by remaining lively, and it will make your material seem that much more interesting and easier to follow.

Posture: Continue on the theme of the preceding warning about avoiding stiffness and rigidity, stay loose, flexible, and animated in your body stance and orientation too. Stand up straight to convey confidence in your material. And lean in towards the audience slightly in order to engage them and convey interest, approachability, intimacy, and receptivity. Slouching and looking at the floor or ceiling, by contrast, shows laziness, lack of confidence, disinterestedness, and inaccessibility.

The voice is another element of body language and public speaking that can and must be used with great intention to achieve better public speaking results, so much so that we’ve devoted an entire article to the subject. For now, just remember that public speaking is not just an auditory experience, for you or the audience. It’s also visual. People don’t only listen to what you’re saying, they’re also watching your every move. Give them something to look at that aligns with and amplifies what you’re trying to communicate.

Half of delivering an effective speech is in the preparation. The other half is in the presentation.

The following article explores this latter half by offering presentation tips for public speaking in a way that delivers your message with impact, has the audience receptive to your presentation, and enables them to leave with a clear understanding of your ideas. Some say that body language is the “third half”. We will leave the whole issue of body language and public speaking for another article. Back to our presentation tips for public speaking…

Dress appropriately: First impressions are everything in the public arena, and how you first appear to the audience will set the stage for how (and whether) they listen to you. Take great care in considering your appearance ahead of time. Plan your outfit well before the day of the speech, making sure you pick clothes appropriate for the occasion, and that you have them cleaned and pressed before you wear them.

Project positivity: Confidence, body language and public speaking is part of it. But so is enthusiasm and calm. Show that you enjoy your topic and that you’re pleased to be there presenting it. Likewise, show that you are comfortable up there (even if you’re not) and relaxed in your person. You don’t have to genuinely Be these qualities that you’re projecting (though if you can be, all the better). But like an actor playing a part in a play, you do have to find a way to conjure up the appearance of these qualities in your body language and overall presentation. Projecting enthusiasm will make the audience enthusiastic about what you’re presenting. Projecting comfort, calm, and relaxation will make the audience feel more comfortable, calm, and relaxed listening to you. And projecting confidence will give you the kind of credibility and authority that will allow audiences to feel safe trusting you and listening to what you have to say.

Be appropriate: If your topic is solemn, be serious in your demeanor. If your topic is lighthearted and carefree, then show more frivolity and humor in your demeanor. In terms of giving examples of your points in a speech, present yourself as your prime example. Reflect the general prevailing attitude and sensibility of your speech in the way you present yourself to your audience.

Eye contact: Instead of trying to address the entire group before at once, address individual members of the group one at a time. The others in the group will still feel as though you are addressing them – just like we each feel like the interviewee in a 60 Minutes interview is addressing us despite that they’re not even looking at the camera. It’s hard to make a speech land when you’re addressing individuals as a collective mass. Address individuals individually and the entire group almost magically receives your message as though you were speaking to him or her and him or her alone.

Your voice is your instrument: Finally, remember to use your voice with intent. Besides projecting, consider tone quality as well. Don’t simply speak in your default manner, only louder. Speaker slower and with more pauses than you do ordinarily, and enunciate clearer. Additionally, speak with more variation in tone than you might otherwise, keeping people interested by varying pitch and cadence and other tonal qualities as you proceed. Avoid droning on tonelessly, monotonously. Avoid dropping off your words at the end of your sentences. Try to sound engaging without sounding aggressive over overbearing. Try to sound humble and open-minded without sounding apologetic and wishy-washy. Try to sound confident without sounding arrogant.

All of these presentation tips for public speaking are designed with the same goal in mind – to build rapport with your audience. For when you and your audience are in rapport, true and potent communication can occur.

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