http://www.articletrader.com/ Articles at ArticleTrader en-us http://www.articletrader.com/writing/public-speaking/the-art-of-speaking-winning-the-mental-game-of-presenting.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/public-speaking/the-art-of-speaking-winning-the-mental-game-of-presenting.html Mon, 01 Jan 2007 00:00:00 -0600
Highly experienced speakers not only know their subject, they know themselves, their audiences and their craft. They know how to write, stage and organize winning presentations that engage the audience at all levels.

To kick your speaking up a notch, take any of these 13 tips on as a project and watch your investment in yourself as a speaker grow.

13 Strategies For Making Your Speeches Masterful

1. Go beyond telling your audience about your subject. Be passionate and become engaged with your subject.

2. Demonstrate your credibility and your right to be on the platform by recounting your experiences as an expert and how you solved problems and helped people and organizations.

3. Masterfully customize your material for each audience so they know absolutely that you are there for them.

4. Refine your voice control and turn your throat into a musical instrument your audiences love to listen to at length.

5. Speak from your heart and touch the hearts of your audience. Take risks by being vulnerable, imperfect and your audience will see you as a real human being, as one of them, not just as "the speaker".

6. Speak the truth and your audience will respond. Avoid any inconsistencies or incongruencies between your "real life" and your "platform life".

7. Tell more stories and give fewer statistics. Reduce the PowerPoint and get more personal and people will respond eagerly.

8. Connect with your audience, one person at a time. Begin the personal touch before you take the stage by "being with" people in the audience, not "talking at" them.

9. Have fun as you speak and so will your audience. To get in the fun mode, stop focusing on yourself, and instead be audience-centered.

10. Respect your audiences and they will respect you. Never insult or disrespect anyone in your audiences. Show your regard for everyone.

11. Stop writing your speeches and start living them. Find your best material from your travels, your work, your friends, your family and the real world around you.

12. Create multi-media presentations to engage people the way they are used to -- with modern media. Coordinate your talk points with particular moments in the media show and you will WOW people.

13. Create and deliver your talk from the A-V-K matrix. This means your talk should be approximately 25% auditory, with 45% visual and 30% kinesthetic. You want to speak to everyone's learning styles in the audience.

Now you have a better idea how master speakers make it look so easy. The hard work is in the preparation and in the crafting of the message. Enjoy your journey in the speaking world and you will reap the many benefits of this exciting calling.

For a comprehensive overview of your abilities as a speaker you need an assessment instrument that identifies your complete strengths and weaknesses. Go to the Procoach website for a free, easy-to-take 65-item presentation skills assessment tool you can score right on the spot. You can use this as a guide in creating your own presentation coaching program, or as the basis for a coaching program you undertake with Bill Cole, MS, MA.

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Bill Cole, MS, MA, a professional speaker and leading authority on presentation coaching, is founder and CEO of Procoach Systems. He is a Wall Of Fame Honoree, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. Visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com, or call 408-294-2776.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]> http://www.articletrader.com/writing/public-speaking/how-to-eliminate-speaking-jitters-eight-sure-fire-strategies-to-help-you-speak-more-naturally.html http://www.articletrader.com/writing/public-speaking/how-to-eliminate-speaking-jitters-eight-sure-fire-strategies-to-help-you-speak-more-naturally.html Sat, 30 Dec 2006 00:00:00 -0600
1. Don't Call Your Event "A Speech". Instead, Frame the Talk As A Coaching Session, Workshop or Class. Why? "Giving a speech" feels like a big deal, pressure-packed situation. Also, few audiences want to be spoken to or at by a "speech maker", but almost everyone enjoys the spirited give and take of a conversation.

2. Use The Overkill Principle, From Sports and School. If you have a school test or sports competition coming up, what made you feel relatively comfortable and confident going into the event? Overdoing your preparation with extremely hard practice and training. If you barely practiced, you had a genuine reason to be very nervous--you were NOT ready! The same is true for a speech.

3. Set Speaking Sub-goals. A speaking event should also be a learning experience for you, the speaker. One major goal is of course, to please, motivate, educate and move the audience. Try some new things, take some risks and make sure YOU learn from the event.

4. Practice All The Time, In Every Venue Imaginable. Use your speech material as you have casual conversations with people the weeks before your talk, in the coffee shop, lobby, stores, malls, etc. They won't know you are practicing your speech. You'll be able to practice the pronunciations, phrasing, inflection, timing, jokes and all else, just as you will do it from the platform.

5. Wear Your Most Confident Outfit and Accessories. Go ahead, be superstitious. Wear what makes you feel good, natural and energetic. Stay away from outfits that lower your self-esteem and confidence level. To be confident, look confident. Simple to do, but powerful.

6. Accept That Nervousness Is A Natural Part Of Any Performing. Long time well-known performers across many venues STILL get very nervous before their performances, yet they manage to give very creditable performances, time and again.

7. Know That You Can Perform Well And Be Very Nervous, Yet The Audience Will Never Know. You can be terrified inside, but if you go about your speaking, you can completely hide your fear from the audience. The few ways the audience will have hints that your nerves are appearing are when your voice continually cracks, your hands, arms and legs shake visibly or you stutter and stammer (assuming you don't do that naturally). Aside from that, they may never know. Act as if you are confident, and quite often, you will begin to feel confident.

8. Make the Audience Do Some of the Work. Instead of YOU speaking the entire time, give your audience some tasks. Ask them questions, give them a quiz, have them discover answers to tasks in small groups. Not only will the audience be more engaged and learn better, but you can take a break and gather your thoughts as they do their "homework". Try it, you'll like it.

Remember, even top speaking pros get nervous before and during their speeches. Collect stress-busting strategies like these. Observe experienced speakers and see what they do to reduce their nerves. Embrace your stress and it will serve you well.

For a comprehensive overview of your abilities as a speaker you need an assessment instrument that identifies your complete strengths and weaknesses. Go to the Procoach website for a free, easy-to-take 65-item presentation skills assessment tool you can score right on the spot. You can use this as a guide in creating your own presentation coaching program, or as the basis for a coaching program you undertake with Bill Cole, MS, MA.

--
Bill Cole, MS, MA, a professional speaker and leading authority on presentation coaching, is founder and CEO of Procoach Systems. He is a Wall Of Fame Honoree, and has coached at the highest levels of major-league pro sports, big-time college athletics and corporate America. Visit him at www.MentalGameCoach.com, or call 408-294-2776.

Source: http://www.articletrader.com ]]>