Youtube Video: Public Speaking Tips from Robert Graham
Robert Graham teaches the fundamentals of public speaking and presentation skills. We find this video useful and would like to share with you. It does not mean our Toastmaster Club endorse his products. Thanks!
Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speaking skills. You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.
A great speech topic depends on your audience. Get tips for analyzing your audience before speaking in this video clip from a professional public speaker, Tracy Goodwin.
Here is the transcript of the speech.
Ok. We have established that you’re giving a speech on a certain topic: informative, persuasive, special occasion, so forth and so on. The first thing we have to look at is your audience. Who in the world are you speaking to?
Ok. We’ve got to look at a lot of different areas about your audience that you might not have thought of. Because we have to pick a speech topic that’s going to be appropriate for who you’re speaking to as well as remember something worthwhile and something that they’re going to be interested in.
So let’s just look across the board at the demographics now. By demographics, I’m talking about things like age. Are you talking to 20 years old? Are you talking to 60 years old? Because you and I both know you talk to them very differently okay. What is the age for they are? Are they all 20? Are they all 60 or are you looking at a cross-section?
What’s the gender? Are you talking to women? Are you talking to men? Because trust me you’re gonna find out if you don’t already know you talk to them differently. Okay? Do you need to look at anything like religious background, economic background, educational background and most importantly what do you have in common with these people.
What do you have that is similar and what do you have that’s different. Are you all college students? Great! Check that off. Ae you all working for the same company? Great. Check that off? Are you all in sales? Great. Check that off. It’s important to take a look at all those demographics because you want to write your speech and pick your topic to make it interesting for that group of people.
If you want to overcome stage fright and learn to speak with confidence, join a Toastmasters club.
Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environment. You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.
Do you want to speak like a pro? Fed up of giving dull presentations?
Learn the secrets from Presidents Kennedy and Obama. You too can put a man on the moon! Check out the below article, How to Speak Like a Pro.
Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environment. You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.
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How to Speak Like a Pro By Matthew Needham
On 25 May, 1961, President Kennedy stood before congress and delivered his famous “man on the moon” speech which mobilised 180m American’s to be the first country to put a man on the moon.
Not all presentations you give to your clients or teams will have such a powerful message as this, but nevertheless; there are a number of lessons which you can apply to give your presentations more impact.
1. Be yourself
You should never try to mimic someone else’s style. You need to develop your own and be authentic. You cannot talk about issues of importance to your audience when they don’t believe in you. That is not to say you can’t learn from the great masters. You should study them and learn from them.
2. Make it Relevant
When Kennedy stood up to address Congress there was a single black and white image of the moon . Nothing could be quite so evocative a backdrop for such a presentation.
Start by talking about the situation the audience faces. You want them to start by agreeing with you so your message becomes easier to sell. Once you have their attention you can lead them wherever you want to take them.
Start where your audience is, not where you are. Start talking by broadly describing the situation they are facing, then move on to talk about what’s on their minds and the challenges they are facing.
3. Keep it Simple
Throughout his presidential campaign, President Obama kept his message simple – “change you can believe in” – which is not only simple, it’s easy to remember. You too can keep it simple, even if you have a complicated subject such as finance or engineering and involving large amounts of technical data.
What’s your core message? When you start preparing your presentation or speech you will no doubt have a number of messages. Keep chiselling away at them until you have a single core message.
Once you have achieved this, then all of the other ideas can hang off it.
Don’t confuse a complete message with a persuasive one. Just because you’re presenting doesn’t mean the audience will grant you all the time in the world to deliver your message. Audiences have limited attention spans and a limited ability to absorb complex data.
4. Anticipate what your audience is thinking
Be aware that when you express one view the audience will automatically associate an opposite or alternative aspects to it as well.
A presentation that does not deal with these alternatives loses the audience’s attention because it fails to address the questions and concerns that come up in people’s minds.
Therefore, you need to anticipate it. Show your audience that you understand the opposite view better than they do, and explain why your proposal or argument is still superior.
5. Pace
Taking an extract from the “man on the moon” speech we see the following:
“These are extraordinary times // And we face an extraordinary challenge // Our strength as well as our convictions have imposed upon this nation the role of leader in freedom’s cause // No role in history could be more difficult or more important // We stand for freedom // That is our conviction for ourselves-that is our only commitment to others // No friend, no neutral and no adversary should think otherwise // We are not against any man-or any nation-or any system-except as it is hostile to freedom // Nor am I here to present a new military doctrine, bearing any one name or aimed at any one area. I am here to promote the freedom doctrine. …//”
He pauses for impact, for us to catch up with him. Break up your messages into short sentences and mark up with // to show breathing marks and speak it in the same way. Speak as though you have plenty of time, but not so much that it looks like you’re filling time!!
6. Impact, Emphasis and Body Language
When presenting you need to be conscious of where your hands are and that they aren’t too distracting by waving about.
If standing in front of an audience but without the benefit of a lectern to hide behind, stand with your feet slightly apart and with equal balance on each leg. Then with you palms crossed facing up and just in front of you – as if you were holding an egg, this is your default position. It’s fine to move your hand or point for emphasis, just be conscious you aren’t doing it too much.
Finally, you’ll need to rehearse. Practice calmly walking up to the lectern or the front of the room. Pause for effect. Arrange your papers calmly. Look out to the audience with a sense of command and with assertiveness. Then deliver your opening remarks.
Calmness bestows a sense of authority. If you appear in control, you will in fact gain control and command attention.
http://www.bigredtomatocompany.co.uk
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Matthew_Needham
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Speak-Like-a-Pro&id=2886927
Listening is one of the most important skills you can have. Being able to do it well has a positive impact on all aspects of your life, including how effective you are at work.
Research suggests, however, that we only remember 25-50 percent of what we hear, meaning that we could be missing important messages.
Key Points
It takes a lot of concentration and determination to be an active listener. Old habits are hard to break, and if your listening skills are as bad as many people’s are, then you’ll need to do a lot of work to break these bad habits.
There are five key techniques you can use to develop your active listening skills:
Start using active listening techniques today to become a better communicator, improve your workplace productivity, and develop better relationships.
Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environment. You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.
To be a good speaker, we need to be a good listener.
The following are some good other resources on active listening skills.
10 Ways to Be a Better Listener
Talk Less and Listen More by the people of Give More Media
Listening is one of the most common and important things that we do. Recent research on work behaviour suggests that we spend approximately 9% of our time writing, 16% of our time reading, 30% of our time talking and 45% of our time listening.
Listening is a fundamental part of the communication process. Regardless of the type of job you do or the industry in which you work, it is important to understand the listening process, have an awareness of barriers to listening effectively, and learn how to listen actively.
Listening as a process
Hearing and listening are not the same thing. In fact, hearing is just the first of three stages in the listening process, all of which are fairly obvious but still worth remembering.
– Hearing Simply the process of sound waves being transformed by our brains into impulses.
– Attention Important so that we can hear what is being said to us, but often difficult due to distractions such as noise intrusion or internal distractions such as thinking about something else rather than what is being said.
– Understanding This is the most crucial aspect of the process on a number of levels. As well as understanding what is being said, we need to try to understand the context of the message, and understand the significance of any verbal or non-verbal clues from the speaker. Having a degree of background knowledge regarding the speaker or the subject is also helpful.
Barriers to listening
In most situations, there are a number of obstacles which can stop us from listening effectively, and as a trainer it is important to appreciate what these obstacles are and how to overcome each of them. Broadly speaking, there are four types of barriers to listening –
– Psychological barriers, including prejudice, apathy or fear on the part of the listener. For example, someone working in marketing or production may not be as interested in a presentation on annual financial results as an accountant or sales director, given that it may not directly impact on their day to day activities.
– Physical barriers, including disability, fatigue or poor health on the part of the listener. For example, trying to listen to a speaker for long periods while you are suffering from a heavy cold is a fairly difficult thing to do.
– Environmental barriers, including distracting noises, uncomfortable or poorly positioned seating, or an unsuitable climate such as an overheated, stuffy meeting room.
– Expectation barriers, such as anticipating a mundane or boring presentation, expecting to receive bad news, or being spoken to in confusing jargon.
In a work or educational situation, you can certainly address tangible barriers such as environmental factors or physical obstacles. Dealing with internal barriers can be more difficult, but a lot of this can be achieved by thorough preparation before any meetings or group sessions.
Active listening
In order to understand the concept and value of active listening, it is worth considering it as one of three different types of listening.
– Competitive listening You will see this most often in negotiation situations, or when politicians are debating with each other. The person being spoken to is more interested in getting their own point of view across when the other person stops speaking, rather than acknowledging what they have just heard. Alternatively, they are distracted by thinking about their own argument or point of view rather than listening properly.
– Passive or attentive listening This is always a danger in lecture style presentation sessions. An audience will pay attention to the slides and listen carefully to the speaker, but there is no real opportunity to interact. This means that the speaker may not know how well their message is being understood.
– Active listening This is the best way to listen for and understand the real message in what people are saying. It involves taking the next step from just listening attentively, by looking to show obvious interest in what the speaker is saying, and by trying to interact with them. As a manager, salesperson or trainer you need to try to use active listening yourself, and provide opportunities for colleagues, customers and learners to use active listening techniques as well. This is of particular importance when involved in informal training activities such as coaching and mentoring.
In terms of outlining the techniques which can be used for active listening, it is useful to think back to the three basic stages of the listening process – hearing, attention and understanding.
Hearing and attention
– First and hopefully obviously, stop talking.
– Try to eliminate as many distractions as possible, both external and internal.
– Try to control your own non-verbal signals to the person speaking. This could mean paying attention to your physical stance, your body movements, eye contact with the speaker, and encouraging motions such as nodding or smiling.
Understanding
– Make sure that you understand the purpose of the speaker, and also be aware of you want from the conversation.
– It also helps to take notes, but try to focus on writing down keywords and phrases that will jog your memory later, rather than trying to write down everything that is being said in an act of dictation.
– If possible, try to ask questions. You can use the notes you have written to remind you of points that need clarification. Try not to interrupt though!
– Finally, try to use the technique of reflecting what the speaker says to you.
Reflecting
This is a technique used extensively by people involved in consultative selling, but it is also a very useful tool for anyone involved in business, education, training or voluntary work. Communication can be broken down into three levels – facts, thoughts (or beliefs) and feelings (or emotions). Reflecting works on all three levels.
– Repeat the facts that you think you have been given by the speaker. This is sometimes referred to as ‘parroting’. If you are right, you know that you are getting the basic elements of what the speaker is telling you. If you have made any mistakes, this gives you both an opportunity to get back on to the same page.
– Also, share the thoughts or beliefs that you have heard, and try to convey the underlying feelings or emotions which you believe are involved. For example, the speaker may be very upset and wants you to display empathy or sympathy with their situation. It is this reflection of thoughts and feelings which distinguishes reflecting from just parroting back to the speaker, which might get a bit tedious and annoying for all concerned.
Again, this is a very useful tool when coaching or mentoring. It can also be used during feedback sessions in a more formal situation such as a performance review meeting.
Speaking in public provides you the opportunity to promote your brand, your company and yourself. It enables you to expand your circle of influence. Yet many people are reluctant to speak before an audience. Here are ten strategies to help you wow and win over audiences, and become a better speaker.
Practice is the key to helping you improve in public speaking.
Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environment. You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.
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You know the feeling. Your mouth dries. Your palms moisten. Your heartbeat pounds in your ears. Butterflies swoop and soar in your stomach. What’s the cause? You’re about to give a speech. Several studies report that public speaking ranks top among people’s fears. Yet, public speaking also affords you the opportunity to promote your brand, your company and yourself. It enables you to expand your circle of influence. More importantly, public speaking remains a powerful communication tool for your strategic business messages. Here are 10 tips to help you wow and win your audiences, and become a better public speaker.
1. Have something to say. Sounds simple enough. Yet too many speakers merely present encyclopedic reports of facts and figures. Take a stand. Express an opinion. Put your facts in context.
2. Use gentle humor. No, this is not the time to practice your stand-up routine. Try instead to use humorous stories and anecdotes. They can evoke smiles that relax your audience and make them more receptive to your message.
3. Share your personal experiences. You’ve been invited to speak because of your knowledge about a subject. Your experiences – both the successes and stumbles, as well as what you’ve learned from each – add an important human touch.
4. Stay within your allotted time – or even shorter. On the subject of making speeches, Franklin Roosevelt once advised, “Be sincere; be brief; be seated.” Your audience will appreciate your consideration of their time.
5. Allow your personality to shine. Everyone has a personal style – especially you. Allow your manner of speaking to reflect the real you. Are you soft spoken with understated wit? Then don’t try to emulate Carol Burnett or Eddie Murphy. Are you an extrovert with lots of pizzazz? Then it’s a mistake to take on the persona of Queen Elizabeth or Mother Teresa. Make sure it’s your personality that shines in the limelight.
6. Engage your entire body. Use hand gestures, eye contact and facial expressions to get your point across. Whenever possible, move around the stage. Vary your voice with stage whispers or muted yells. Your speech must be more than a dry recitation of facts and opinions. Effective public speaking is a performance that engages the audience. They will appreciate your efforts to keep them entertained.
7. Research your audience. Why is your subject important to them? How will the issue affect their lives? Knowing the answer to those questions enables you to tailor your presentation to the audience’s specific needs.
8. Understand your goals. How do you want your audience to feel after your conclusion? Speeches have the power to persuade, inform, inspire, entertain or move your audience to action. Tailor your remarks to meet both your goals and the audiences’.
9. Practice, practice, practice. Whether you use a full written text, talking points or brief notes, rehearse your remarks. Mark Twain explained that it took him more than three weeks to prepare an impromptu speech. Don’t just read it silently. Speak it aloud. This gives you the opportunity to time your talk and to change words or phrases that trip you up. An added bonus: Practice enables you to transform your anxiety into a poised high-energy performance.
10. Enjoy yourself. Your attitude determines whether public speaking presents stumbling blocks or stepping-stones. Have fun. The more speaking opportunities you accept, the better you’ll become. Like any roller coaster ride, public speaking provides both chills and thrills. Climb aboard. The experience is worth the trip.
© 2009 WordStorm Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.
Dawne Y. Simmons is president and founder of WordStorm Communications, Inc. With more than 20 years of experience in all areas of corporate communications, she assists company leaders develop and promote their strategic messages. For the last 10 years, she has written speeches, presentations, scripts and other business materials for high-level executives in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors. An award-winning speaker, Ms. Simmons assists executives improve their on-stage presence. She provides confidential, private coaching sessions that help business leaders quickly improve their presentation skills.
Be sure to visit her website at http://www.wordstormcom.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dawne_Simmons
http://EzineArticles.com/?Power-Speaking—10-Strategies-to-Wow-and-Win-Audiences&id=2793526
How to improve your public speaking skills?
You can check out the below article.
Practice is the key to helping you improve on your communication and presentation skills. Join Toastmasters and find a club that you like to practise your speeches in a friendly environment. You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.
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Public Speaking: 10 Tips to Improve Public Speaking Skills
by Colleen Kettenhofen
When I ask my audiences their number one challenge with public speaking, they overwhelmingly say, “to overcome the fear of public speaking.” It’s okay to have “butterflies.” The key is how to get them organized, focused and flying in formation. Here are 10 tips for delivering a more powerful, persuasive presentation. Practice these techniques consistently to improve public speaking skills.
1. 95% of your success is determined before the presentation. Your audience will know if you didn’t rehearse. Rehearsing, or “rehearing” yourself minimizes 75% of your nervousness. Rehearse standing up, or better yet, ask someone to videotape you. The camera will be your most objective ally. The more comfortable you become with your material via rehearsing, the more comfortable you will be with your body language.
2. Either memorize or “know cold” your opener and close. Two minutes each for an opener and a close is enough. The most important thing your audience will remember is your closing. The second most important thing they’ll remember is your opener. Start with something attention-grabbing, like a quote or statistic, which relates to your topic. Never start with, “Good Morning.” It is obvious and boring.
3. Public Speaking: 24 hours before your presentation:
A. Have a quiet dinner with a quiet friend. (This may or may not be your spouse!) You won’t be as concerned about your public speaking skills if you can put your nervous system on glide.
B. The evening before, put your presentation on audiocassette as background noise one hour before retiring. Listen to your opener and close before bedtime as a review.
C. No massive changes 24 hours before. Nothing increases the fear of public speaking more than rewriting your material at the last minute. Impromptu speeches notwithstanding.
D. Visualize your presentation going smoothly and successfully. All Olympic athletes use this technique, and it works with public speaking as well.
E. Review your notes and visual aids the evening before. Your notes should only be “fast food for the eyes” in bullet form, and are NEVER read to the audience.
F. Eat a good high protein breakfast the morning of your presentation. Even if you’re not speaking until that evening, feed your mind and body the proper fuel.
4. Before your presentation, check yourself in a full-length mirror. A dear friend of mine forgot to do this. During her keynote speech in front of hundreds, someone quietly pointed out that her skirt was tucked into her pantyhose!
5. Public speaking and purpose: When organizing your talk, define your purpose. Why are you there? Why are they there? Is this a sales presentation? A community watch group? If you present technical information, is this an information/knowledge transfer or a decision briefing? When presenting technical information make certain not to overload your audience with too much detail, or too much on each slide. Tailor your message. Define your objective.
6. Know your audience before designing your opener and close. It is imperative that you “speak the language” of your audience. What are their ages? Percentage of males/females? Are they highly technical or non-technical? Do they want to be there or is this mandatory? What are their expectations? If you are a scientist or engineer, speak to the “lowest common denominator.” Technical presenters have a propensity to use a lot of technical jargon. Does the person in charge of funding understand the language?
7. Avoid using too many slides. Visual aids are wonderful tools as long as they’re used to enhance the information. A common mistake is using the visual aids as the presentation. Look at the audience frequently to establish rapport and a connection. In almost every presentation, you are there to “sell” them not simply “tell” them. Do not look at your visual aids other than a quick glance, and never read them. Never turn your back on the audience to read slides. They will not look at your slides. Their minds will start to wander. Remember, you are your own best visual aid.
8. Good public speaking skills mean being prepared. As the saying goes, prior planning prevents predictably poor performance. Planning and preparation will reduce nervousness by 75%. Again, your audience will know if you didn’t rehearse. Consider hiring a public speaking coach. The dollars invested may well be worth their weight in gold.
9. The Q & A period and how to handle a hostile audience. The second most frequent comment I hear in my public speaking seminars is “What if they ask a question and I don’t know the answer?” Or, “What if someone in the audience is a know-it-all and doesn’t like me?” Avoid being argumentative. If you don’t know the answer, ask if someone in the audience has the answer. Or, simply let them know when you will get back to them. Make certain you do. When you lie you die. It destroys your credibility.
10. Variety and venue. Variety serves as a “wake up call” to your audience. Examples of adding variety: humor, relevant stories, quotes, voice inflection, paired and group activities, pauses, audience participation in the question and answer period, and slides or other multimedia. As for your venue, are your visual aids appropriate to your size of audience? Will everyone be able to see them?
Lastly, make sure to confirm the time, date, and place with the appropriate contact person. If possible, arrange to see the room ahead of time so you can practice visualizing in the exact location of your presentation. At the minimum, arrive at least one hour ahead of time. To improve public speaking skills, and overcome nervousness, nothing works like being prepared.
Copyright 2006 Colleen Kettenhofen
About The Author
Colleen Kettenhofen is a motivational speaker, workplace expert, & co-author of “The Masters of Success,” as featured on the Today Show, along with Ken Blanchard and Jack Canfield. http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com. Topics: leadership, management, difficult people, success, public speaking. To order the book, or for free articles and newsletter visit http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com.
“World Champion Speaker Reveals his #1 Key to Overcoming Fear Eliminating the Negative Self-Talk, and & Delivering a Clear Message…Even If This is Your Very First Speech.”
