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Fear of Public Speaking? This article is very helpful!
www.speakandtrain.com
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You're already a public speaker. When you talk to two or more people at the same time, you are
public speaking. When you introduce yourself at a party, you are public speaking. When you share
your elevator pitch, you are public speaking.
Everybody starts out awfully. Either you don't know what to say or you are nervous. You can get
over it with practice and coaching. You can become competent, and you will find that
uncomfortable situations become more comfortable. Recently at a speech, I presented the SWOT
Analysis to 28 people and received very positive feedback afterward. Twenty years ago, it would
have been a different story.
You will find yourself gracefully presenting your elevator pitch with no advance notice, smoothly
summarizing a project to a customer, and competently sharing your ideas with a networking group.
Public speaking will become easy.
Overcome glossophobia. It's a tough road. Most beginners have glossophobia, the fear of public
speaking. Even when someone looks comfortable on the outside, they may be a nervous wreck on
the inside. Jerry Seinfeld shared his thoughts on glossophobia when he said, "...people's number
one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right?
This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing
the eulogy."
To conquer glossophobia, I recommend finding a local speaker's club. I know of one that is a non-
profit organization that helps members develop their public speaking and leadership skills through
practice and feedback in a local club. This organization has more than 260,000 members in more
than 12,500 clubs in 113 countries. Since 1924, it has helped people of all backgrounds become
more confident in front of an audience. It has more than 1,300 clubs in California. Meetings are not
free; however, I think the low cost is certainly justifiable.
I was in this organization twice. The first time, I completed 10 speeches and earned the
Competent designation. I moved to a different zip code and found another club within walking
distance. I completed another 15 speeches and achieved the Able designation. I understand the
designations have different names now, but the point is I completed 25 speeches.
Meetings are fun and educational. Members give a 30-second introduction. They also participate
in TableTopics, a part of the meeting when the leader calls on members at random to take the
podium and speak for two minutes on a given topic. Imagine having the meeting leader look at you
and say, "Here is your TableTopic: how do you know when your next career step is self-
employment and not just another job?" The time you have to prepare is the time it takes you to
rise from your chair and walk to the podium.
Meetings also have featured speakers. Two members present prepared speeches as lessons in
their curriculum. If you are early in your speaking training, you may find yourself presenting a four-
to-six-minute speech on something you are passionate about. I was passionate about scuba
diving and gave some of my best speeches on the subject.
When the featured speakers finish, their evaluators take the podium. Evaluators compare the
speech presented to the objectives in the speaker's curriculum. Evaluators usually follow the
sandwich cookie approach: say something nice, say something that has to be improved, say
something nice. I found this feedback very valuable. Where else can you go for valuable feedback
presented in an open and friendly environment?
Evaluators are not the only members taking notes. One member per meeting volunteers to be the
"Ah, Ummm, and And counter." Yes, I typed that right. Yes, ahs, ummms, and ands are a big deal.
When speakers interject ahs, ummms, and ands into their speeches, they dilute the potency of
their message. They do not do this on purpose. Rather, they search for the right words, and in the
meantime issue an inadvertent ah, ummm, or and. Everybody does it. Politicians are the biggest
offenders. The next time a TV reporter asks a politician a big question, wait for the response. If the
respondent is a good speaker and has a solid answer, you will hear it. If not, you will get some
ahs, ummms, and ands.
Going through the experience of having somebody count your ahs, ummms, and ands can help
you become a stronger speaker. It takes time to remove these inadvertent space fillers from your
speaking, but it is a mandatory step.
I can demonstrate how ahs, ummms, and ands dilute the message. Suppose you walked into the
room right now and asked, "Mark, what are you writing today?" I could respond:
"I am writing about overcoming glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. I am including a funny
quote from Jerry Seinfeld. I am encouraging readers to find a local speaker's club," OR
"Ummm, I am writing about overcoming ah...glossophobia, the fear of public speaking and...I am
including a funny quote from Jerry Seinfeld. I ummm am encouraging readers to find a ah local
speaker's club and ummm go."
Tough to read? Yes, I agree. It's even tougher paying attention to speakers who issue inadvertent
ahs, ummms, and ands. They put their audience to sleep.
Suppose you bought a book in audio format (on a CD) and I read a random paragraph for you. It
could sound like this:
"Let Your Light Shine. Don't let anybody take it away. I know a woman who worked at an
architect's office. It was a strict environment and the owner ruled with meanness. Staff was
unhappy. People complained constantly. The office had a negative energy, and even though this
woman had significant seniority there, she was almost as unpleasant as the owner," OR
"Ummm Let Your Light Shine and don't let anybody take it away. I know a woman ummm who
worked at an architect's office and ah it was a strict environment. The owner ah ruled with ummm
meanness and staff was ah unhappy and people complained constantly. The office had ah
negative energy and ummm even though this woman had significant ah seniority there, she was
almost as ummm unpleasant as the owner."
I have one more example for you. This one comes from President Obama. Guess which one the
president said:
"Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones
we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek," OR
"Ummm change will not come if we ah wait for ummm some other person or ah some other time.
We are the ones we've been waiting for and we are the change that we ummm seek."
The organization I found is not the only organization out there that can help you improve your
public speaking. You can probably find a nearby club that meets on a day and time that fits your
schedule. Very few people are great public speakers. You don't have to become great. You just
have to become competent. With training, everybody can become competent. Be strong. Defeat
glossophobia.
Let's visit with my friend, Daphne the Dancer. Daphne and I meet at a coffee shop. She walks up
to the counter and loudly declares, "I will order a ah triple cappuccino and ummm my friend there
will take a ah slice of chocolate cake, and it's funny that he runs these ah meetings in a coffee
shop but ummm ah he doesn't drink coffee." She turns to me and laughs. She continues, "Hehe
Mark, just kidding. I read your public speaking sermon on your blog. My employer sponsors a
chapter for that organization, and I've seen the logo a hundred times, but I did not know what they
did."
"That's great, Daphne. You have a chapter at work. Will it fit in your schedule?"
"Somewhat. I know they meet every week. Sometimes I will be able to attend and sometimes not.
I do want to improve my speaking. I really notice when I issue ahs, ummms, and ands
inadvertently. How can I break that habit when I go to the meetings only once a week, if that?"
"Try this. Tell your coworkers you are seriously monitoring your ahs, ummms, and ands. If they
catch you issuing one, they can stop you and charge you a dime. This will help you identify when
you use any ahs, ummms, and ands. It will become very obvious, and you will also learn to reduce
occurrences of ahs, ummms, and ands. Within a few weeks-or days-you will have killed that habit.
You may find people pay more attention to you. You may also notice your coworkers' use of ahs,
ummms, and ands. Make it fun. It could become fun for everybody involved. Maybe your employer
will pay for your membership. It's great training...it won't run $1,000 per day like mine does."
You have many forums where you can improve your public speaking. You have many more
options:
You can become more vocal at your Mastermind group.
You can write a proposal at work and present the Executive Summary verbally instead of merely
sending it via e-mail.
Find some small business owner's groups in your area. Start attending their meetings.
Go online and find some groups near you with niches you find interesting.
Buy a cheap tape recorder or record notes to yourself on your smartphone. Read articles (aloud)
from web sites. Record them and play them back. You will improve over time.
Go online and find videos of famous speakers. I think Vice President Al Gore is excellent. I'm sure
you already have some favorites."
Mark Anthony Germanos is a business author and speaker. He wrote Escape the Cubicle: How to
leave your corporate or government job for something better after leaving corporate America and
becoming happily self-employed.
He shares traits that he sees in successful businesses and bad habits he sees in those barely
surviving. He helps people get over the fear of becoming self-employed. He helps people make
better decisions with SWOT Analyses, utilize social media to attract customers and decide where
they should focus their time, energy and attention.
For a SWOT Analysis workbook (at no charge), send an e-mail to
mark@markanthonygermanos.com. Mark can be reached at
http://www.markanthonygermanos.com. You can also call 530-677-8864.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Mark_Germanos
==== ====
Fear of Public Speaking? This article is very helpful!
www.speakandtrain.com
==== ====