Business

The P's and Q's of Public Speaking

Avoid the pain





Which would you prefer - root canal dental surgery without


an anaesthetic or a bit of public speaking? According to the


people who research these things, most of us would prefer


the former.


Public speaking is still one of our greatest fears and it


turns grown men and women into nervous wrecks. The mere


thought of it turns our tongue to cotton wool, causes our


internal plumbing to act up and our kneecaps to start


knocking lumps out of each other.


The problem is that Public Speaking catches up with many of


us at some time both in our business and personal life.


You're asked to do a short talk at Fred's "leaving do". The


organisers of your business club want fifteen minutes on why


you make "kafuffle" valves. A potential client wants a


presentation on why they should give you the contract.


Of course there's always the confident people who think "I'm


real good at this, lead me to the podium." The only thing


is


that some of these people could bore your socks off and do


more for insomniacs than the strongest sleeping pills.


Maybe you'll be lucky enough to be sent on a Public Speaking


course by your enlightened employer. But more likely, when


asked to make a presentation you'll get hold of a book on


speaking, start writing the speech and lose sleep until the


event.


Well, there's no need for all of this because help is at


hand. All you need to remember are your P's and Q's. Let's


start with the P's





Preparation


When you sit down to write what you're going to say, bear in


mind who you'll be speaking to. Will they understand what


you're talking about; will they understand the technical


stuff and the jargon? If in doubt remember the old saying


"Keep It Simple Stupid". To quote Aristotle - "Think as the


wise men do, but speak as the common man".


Make sure that what you say has a beginning, a middle and an


end. Think of some anecdotes that help reinforce your


story.


People think visually so paint verbal pictures for your


audience. And always remember, people want to know what's in


it for them - so make sure you tell them!





Place


Have a look at the venue before the event if you can. It's


not always possible, however, even if you get there half an


hour before, you can check out where you'll be speaking.


Stand at the point where you will deliver from, imagine


where the audience will be and check that they can see and


hear you. You may even wish to place a glass of water where


you'll be able to find it.


Personal Preparation


Before any speaking event, think about what you are going to


wear; when in doubt dress up rather than down. You can


always take things off for a more casual look. Men could


remove their jacket and their tie. Women could remove items


of jewellery.


Part of your personal preparation should include some mouth


and breathing exercises. Practise saying some tongue


twisters to give your speaking muscles a good work out. Take


a deep breath and expand your diaphragm. Then breathe out,


counting at the same time, try and get up to fifty and not


pass out.


As part of your personal preparation, write your own


introduction. Write out exactly what you want someone to say


about you, large font, double-spaced and ask the person


introducing you to read it. Believe me they won't object and


will probably be pleased and impressed.





Poise and Posture


Whenever you're called to speak, stand up or walk to the


front quickly and purposefully. Pull yourself up to your


full height, stand tall and look like you own the place.


Before you start to speak, pause, look round your audience


and smile. You may even have to wait until the applause dies


down. Remember, you want the audience to like you, so look


likeable. Practise this in front of a mirror or your family;


I've heard that children make pretty good critics.





Pretend


I'm suggesting you pretend you're not nervous because no


doubt you will be. Nervousness is vital for speaking in


public, it boosts your adrenaline, which makes your mind


sharper and gives you energy. It also has the slight side


effect of making you lighter through loss of body waste


materials. The trick is to keep your nerves to yourself. On


no account tell your audience your nervous, you'll only


scare the living daylights out of them if they think you're


going to faint. Some of the tricks for dealing with nerves


are:


Get lots of oxygen into your system, run on the spot and


wave your arms about like a lunatic. It burns off the stress


chemicals. Speak to members of your audience as they come


in


or at some time before you stand up. That tricks your brain


into thinking you're talking to some friends. Have a glass


of water handy for that dry mouth. Stick cotton wool on your


kneecaps so people won't hear them knocking.


One word of warning - do not drink alcohol. It might give


you Dutch courage but your audience will end up thinking


you're speaking Dutch.








The Presentation


This is it, the big moment when you tell your audience what


a clever person you are and have them leap to their feet in


thunderous applause. Okay, let's step back a bit - if you


want their applause then you're going to have to work for


it. Right from the start your delivery needs to grab their


attention.


Don't start by saying - "Good morning, my name is Fred


Bloggs and I'm from Bloggs and Company." Even if your name


is Bloggs, it's a dead boring way to start a presentation.


Far better to start with some interesting facts or an


anecdote that is relevant to your presentation.


Look at the audience as individuals; I appreciate that this


can be difficult when some of them are downright ugly.


However it grabs their attention if they think you're


talking to them individually.


Talk louder than you would normally do, it keeps the people


in the front row awake and makes sure those at the back get


the message. Funnily enough, it's also good for your


nerves.





PowerPoint


And for those of you who haven't heard of it, it's a


software programme that's used to design stunning graphics


and text for projection onto a screen. As a professional


speaker, I'm not that struck on PowerPoint. I feel that too


many speakers rely on it and it takes over the presentation.


After all, you're the important factor here. If an audience


is going to accept what you say then they need to see the


whites of your eyes. There needs to be a big focus on you,


not on the technology.


Use PowerPoint if you want but keep it to a minimum and make


sure you're not just the person pushing the buttons.


Why not get a bit clever at using the faithful old Flip


Chart, lots of professionals do.





Passion


This is what stops the audience in their tracks. This is


what makes them want to employ you; to accept what you're


proposing and make them want you to marry their son or


daughter. Couple this with some energy, enthusiasm and


emotion and you have the makings of a great public speaker.


Just think of our old friend Adolph Hitler, boy could he


move an audience to action. It's just too bad he was selling


something that wasn't to everyone's liking.


Give your presentation a bit of oomph and don't start


telling me - "I'm not that kind of person."


There's no need to go over the top but you're doing a


presentation to move people to action, not having a cosy


little chat in your front room.





That's the P's finished with so let's look at the Q's.





Questions


Decide when you're going to take them and tell people at the


start. In a short speech it's best to take questions at the


end. If you take them as you go then you may get waylaid


and


your timing will get knocked out.


Never - never - never finish with questions; far better to


ask for questions five or ten minutes before the end. Deal


with the questions and then summarise for a strong finish.


Too many presentations finish on questions and the whole


thing goes a bit flat.


When you're asked a question, repeat it to the whole


audience and thank the questioner. It keeps everyone


involved, it gives you time to think and it makes you look


so clever and in control.





Quit


Quit when you're ahead. Stick to the agreed time; if you're


asked to speak for twenty minutes, speak for nineteen and


the audience will love you for it. Remember, quality is not


quantity.


One of the most famous speeches ever - "The Gettysburg


Address", by President Lincoln, was just over two minutes


long.


Right, that's my cue to quit when I'm ahead. Public Speaking


will never be easy for most of us but we can all do it a


whole lot better.

About Author

Discover how you can generate more business without having to cold call! Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Sales without Selling" This book is packed with practical things that you can do to – get customers to come to you . Click here now http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

Source: ArticleTrader.com