Thanks for all of the great entries! It was tough to pick a winner this month. There were many good questions and some of them were technical in nature and others were a revelation of the fear that many people possess. Our two winners seemed to really have some serious fear when in front of large groups so I had to award the prizes to them because of their honesty. Perhaps winning a contest will give them a reason to smile the next time they are about to present in front of a group and that will help loosen them up a bit. I think some of the answers that all of those with questions had can be found in the advice Read More...
Today’s Top 10 Tips Tuesday comes from the world’s leader in the public speaking arena – Toastmaster International. Here are 10 common mistakes business people make when giving a presentation. Scan this list and make sure you are not guilty of these blunders.
Be Free! ****************************** How come intelligent, business-savvy people end up boring their audiences? They fail to recognize that public speaking is an acquired skill that improves with practice and honest feedback. Speaking for 20 minutes before the right group of people can do Read More...
When it comes to public speaking, there are two extremes of the speaking spectrum – those who are terrified of presenting to a group and those who always jump at the chance to be in front of an audience. Most people fall somewhere between these two points depending on the size and make up of the audience. Where are you on the speaking spectrum?
In the business world, it is often our job to lead meetings, give presentations to clients and talk in front of rooms full of people. Being an effective communicator, both one-on-one and in front of a group, is necessary to inform, educate and persuade. The better you are able to express your ideas, the more success you will experience.
Today I’m going to give you some very practical tips on how to actually deliver a presentation.
1. I strongly suggest that you commit your presentation to memory. This frees up your hands, your eyes, and your whole body to send out your message to your audience. I don’t mean this to be a shameless plug for our memory training workshop, but if you have taken the workshop, you know how easy memorizing a presentation can be if you just know how. It’s well worth the effort in terms of the increased credibility and communicative power.
2. I also suggest that you practice your presentation – a Read More...
What’s scarier to most Americans than spiders, heights, or even death? There hasn’t been a horror movie made about it yet, but more than 75% of Americans surveyed report that they suffer from “glossophobia,” a debilitating fear of public speaking.
Statistically, far more of us claim that we would prefer death to giving a speech; even comedian Jerry Seinfeld used to joke that at a funeral, most people would rather be lying in the casket than delivering the eulogy.
Why is the prospect of trying to communicate information in front of even one person so horrifying? Most glossophobes fear looking bad, being criticized, suffering rejection, and losing business or Read More...
Jerry Seinfeld once said that at a funeral, most people would rather be in the coffin than standing in front of the group giving the eulogy. This is said because a fear of public speaking is a fear of many people. It’s a real fear, known as speech phobia, and the effects of this fear, according to some, are a fast heartbeat and dry mouth before speaking. Some people actually say they feel faint before speaking in front of a group. Their Read More...
What is the most important aspect of giving a presentation?
No, it is not eye contact, memorizing your talk, using visual aids or humor properly. Granted those are important. But if you master all of those skills and neglect this one important aspect, your effectiveness will be lost and your message will fall on deaf ears.
The most important aspect for you to focus on when preparing and giving a presentation is the audience. And this holds true whether it is a small group of 5 or a large group of 500.
The best way to focus on your audience is to answer the following questions:
What matters to the group? Why should they care? Why should they listen to Read More...
Thanks for all of the great entries! It was tough to pick a winner this month. There were many good questions and some of them were technical in nature and others were a revelation of the fear that many people possess. Our two winners seemed to really have some serious fear when in front of large groups so I had to award the prizes to them because of their honesty. Perhaps winning a contest will give them a reason to smile the next time they are about to present in front of a group and that will help loosen them up a bit. I think some of the answers that all of those with questions had can be found in the advice Read More...
