Motivational Public Speaking

We saw some tips which one should ‘not’ follow to improve self assured oration in part 1. This is the concluding part and has a few more ‘not-to-do’ tips.

Perils of using visual aids

Assuming you are using charts, whiteboard or a projection screen, don’t handle the implements such as the marker pen, keyboard or the pointer constantly. This clearly depicts nervousness.

It would be best if you use hands for gesturing and pick up the implements to use when necessary. This will show you as a confident individual.

Using hands, how to do it?

You will portray a picture of assuredness only when you use your hands effectively. If you are not using them to gesture let them be in their natural position by your side.

Focus on New thoughts

You must focus on expressing your thoughts and not worry about your vocabulary. This will build up your confidence and make you give up the traits mentioned above.

Moreover it will make your speech flow smoothly and make it coherent and legible to audiences.

Make sure you start and ending are delivered well using appropriate words and phrases. The middle you don’t have to worry about words or language you can just use your own words to talk about your subject. If you worry too much about the grammar, language etc you will become nervous and fumble for words.

Suppose doing all this you are still tensed. Don’t worry; just ensure you don’t portray it outside. Avoid tension and you will be able to present a confident picture to your audience.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
No Comments »

While preparing to become a confident speaker, we need to know that tension and stage fear are something that will never fully go away. We need to learn to use this nervousness to make us better our performance. But self assured oration can be achieved by not letting the audience know about our tensed mind.

Here are a few items to check for, preferably by looking at a video of your speech, and see if you display an obvious tensed frame of mind while you deliver talks.

Uncomfortable movements and habits

These can distract your listeners and make you appear amateurish. The best way to combat this is to ask your best friend to warn you when you start making mistakes such as:

• Standing with legs crossed
• Standing unevenly balanced
• Constantly feel up parts of your face
• Put your weight on the podium as if taking support
• Moving hands in and out of your pockets
• Playing with your jewelery or watch
• Gulping constantly
• Playing with the buttons of your jacket or shirt
• Keeping your hands locked behind your body

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
1 Comment »

Part one, we did have a look at the significance of addressing gatherings. This can be considered the concluding part
Oration is a set of traits that can be learned. Here are three reasons why everyone should master them.

At some point in our life we will be faced with the prospect of addressing a gathering. The better prepared we are the better our presentation will go.

In the job marketplace, effective, fluent and coherent communication skills are given top priority by employers.

If you are a good orator, you are equipped with the necessary implements to change lives of people in your city, country and perhaps even across the world.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
No Comments »

Delivering a speech is not an easy task, you have to plan your presentation well in advance so that your talk is understood, appreciated and remains in the minds of your audience for long time. Irrespective of what profession you might follow, there may come a moment when you have to deliver a talk in front of a gathering.

It could be anything: an office presentation, board meeting, club function, raising toast at a friend’s wedding etc. But you must not fumble on these occasions. You must be well trained and ready for such an eventuality.

Oration is not something discovered to make life hell for students or insult people in front of their contemporaries. Addressing gatherings have been common since time immemorial.

But it didn’t get the status of a formal profession or even education qualification. But history is witness to the number of manuals and books that have been written on this subject. The first one was perhaps written 4,500 years ago in Egypt. The advise that book gives is relevant even today. Most of the guidelines of public speaking can be traced back to Greek philosopher Aristotle (circa 3rd century BC). Some rules in this field have not changed in several hundred years. Leaders like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi etc used the same techniques listed by Aristotle and succeeded.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
1 Comment »

Previous two parts, I discussed some basic differences between Professional Coach and an Orator. Ensure you read Part 1 and part 2 before reading this further.

Listed are some more basic differences that a professional coach should know.

Since trainers need not be expert in one field but familiar with a lot of areas, they tend to pick up ready made material and use them. But speakers need to be as original as possible, using other orators speeches accounts to blatant plagiarism and you could be sued for that. Moreover even organizers and audiences seek out original material.
Remember that a professional orator delivers talks to make a living and if you wish to be one you have to identify an area of expertise in yourself or choose a subject in which you wish to become an expert. Reading on the subject is key to become an expert in that area. Once you are an expert you could easily talk.
Professional speakers generally have to pepper their talks with humor, fiction and even entertaining real life incidents. Trainers don’t need this additional skill.
Last but not the least you need to be focused on your goal, i.e. becoming a successful professional speaker. If you are focused you can write a great speech and deliver it too, over a period of time.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
No Comments »

In my previous post I pointed you’ll to some of the basic differences between Professional coach and an Orator. Today let us look into some more differences that tells what a professional coach needs to transform into an Orator.

Coaches generally have a specific goal; they have to make their trainees grow to a certain level of competence. This transformation will require alterations in the lifestyle of the participants. The job of the coach is to analyze the required transformation and list out a series of steps and guide the trainee to reach the destination.

But an orator’s task is quite disparate. Listeners don’t come because they know they have a lacuna in their learning and want to fill it. But rather the orator is chosen just because the organizers believe he/ she has profound knowledge about the topic, sharing which will immensely benefit the listeners. It is up to the audience to derive benefits of the speech, there is no onus on the speaker.

The real challenge to the orator is here. Unlike a trainee-coach scenario where students are obliged to do what the trainer says, here it is completely up to the speaker to convince and motivate the listeners to take action. To achieve this speaker has to present some really persuasive arguments.

It is very difficult to make people to transform their beliefs, attitudes and actions. The greatest challenge of the speaker is to make listeners change at least three significant changes in their life. The message should be power packed, unforgettable and persuasive.

To attain success in the public speaking arena, one has to concentrate on small transformation areas and attain expertise. But to be a successful coach one has to be reasonable expert in a variety of areas, such as sales, client relations, information technology, communication, leadership etc.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
1 Comment »

It is common that several coaches want to transform into speakers and are often under the illusion that it won’t be difficult as they are already into speaking to groups. But the truth is far from this, there is a world of difference between the two activities. Let us examine some of the most obvious ones now…

One of the most common variations is the number of listeners. Coaches have an audience of maximum 50 people while public speakers deal with few hundreds to few thousands and sometimes even larger groups.

One aspect which appears same is during both activities the speaker is attempting to change the attitudes of listeners but the way each one accomplishes his task is totally different.

Coaches generally have a specific goal; they have to make their trainees grow to a certain level of competence. This transformation will require alterations in the lifestyle of the participants. The job of the coach is to analyze the required transformation and list out a series of steps and guide the trainee to reach the destination.

But an orator’s task is quite disparate. Listeners don’t come because they know they have a lacuna in their learning and want to fill it. But rather the orator is chosen just because the organizers believe he/ she has profound knowledge about the topic, sharing which will immensely benefit the listeners. It is up to the audience to derive benefits of the speech, there is no onus on the speaker.

In our next post we will look into a lot more points that differentiate coaches and public speakers.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
1 Comment »

Ensure you read some of the other Oratory lessons I have posted earlier. Read Part 1 and Part 2 here.

1.  Dissection of speeches. You have to teach your pupils how to use words in different contexts. This can be effectively taught by involving them in activities where they use their skills and improve language.

2.  Compelling Discussion. Divide the class into groups and ask each group to nominate a member to present an argument on which the group deliberates and arrive at a consensus.

3.    News reporting/ presenting. This is a very good activity to improve language skills in all aspects, writing, and oration, argumentative and also build confidence.

4.  Oratory Checklists. Instruct the importance of creating and using lists while preparing and delivering speeches.

5. Public Speaking Games. This is one of the very effective methods to teach public speaking. Teachers can function as clients of a travel agency and students have to speak about and sell a holiday package.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
No Comments »

In my previous post I discussed how to ‘Speak to convince’, relate anecdotes and argue effectively. These are few points when one is planning to attend a talk or a seminar. Today, let us look at a few more interesting aspects that need to be considered when we are set to improve our oratory skill set:

1.      How to write persuasive speeches. It is impossible to deliver a great talk without writing one. This takes a lot more time than actually delivering the speech. The most important aspect one has to keep in mind while writing a speech is to follow a uniform theme.

2.      How to make an impact. An effective lesson plan could be to divide the class into groups of two each and then ask each member to interact with the other and introduce their team member to the gathering. After the class you could discuss and critique about the way introductions were done.

3.      Group Interactions. Involve the entire gathering in interviewing sessions. A good way could be to split the class into groups and conduct this lesson

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
No Comments »

It is important that aspiring public speakers undergo a professional training program. A series of training session’s helps you gain confidence, plan your speech, tailor it to suit your audience and most importantly provides you a platform for practice. After suitable experience you could consider becoming a public speaking trainer yourself.

Given below are few lesson plans so that if you contemplate offering your skills as trainer to aspiring orators, you will know where to start.

1. Speaking to convince your listeners to come to your side – Illustrate with examples the necessary oratory and hearing abilities. Discuss different aspects of how the presenter should coalesce actions and speech towards achievement of the end result i.e., influencing the listeners’ feelings towards your point.

2. Relating anecdotes to make your speech interesting. Through this lesson you could emphasize upon the importance of using stories to illustrate the speech and drive point home.

3. How to argue effectively. Discussing opposing points of view is very common among college students. The way in which a speaker puts the point across is as vital as the proofs are presented as arguments. To succeed in a debate one has to be confident and put the points across effectively.

I’ll come up with a few more points soon.

Tags: Motivational Public Speaking by self
1 Comment »