Speaking Well In Public

From ‘Society Small Talk’ by Anon c. 1880

“The common error with the many is their rapid or, so to say, slovenly manner of speaking; the slurring over of the final syllables, the dropping the voice before the words have been but half-uttered, and the running a string of words together with hurried ungraceful accents, too often starting with a jerk and concluding with a rush.”

Perhaps the language is a little old fashioned, but the advice is right up to date:

Speaking too quickly means your audience will find it hard to keep up, not speaking clearly means they’ll have trouble understanding you and not projecting consistently means they just won’t hear everything.

Not much changes!

Do formal situations leave you tongue-tied and out of your depth?

Do you have difficulty chairing meetings?

Are your skills and abilities better than many of your bosses – save that one key skill, confident public speaking? And might this be why you haven’t yet reached your full potential at work?

Have you not yet started your dream business because the thought of presenting your business plan to your bank manager fills you with dread?

Do you worry that your anxiety might be discovered?

Do you feel that others can sense your fears – and exploit them?

Would you love to have a party piece; tell a joke, or recite poetry?

So what’s really getting in your way?

Did you know you can do so much more?

Speaking Well In Public can help.

Dealing with nerves

Is it ever a good idea to have ‘just the one, to steady my nerves…’?

You may think you’re more fluent, confident, relaxed and amusing after a drink.

But this is you making a judgement – while your judgement is impaired.

So why do people want to drink before speaking, and what effect does alcohol have on the speaker – and their audience?

Dragons’ Den – public speaking for pitching

Last night I watched an episode of Dragons’ Den, where an applicant pitched for business investment. Her performance did not impress the Dragons, who were rude to her in their reaction to her proposal. Following the roasting, one of them said “You look uncomfortable. Are you feeling uncomfortable? Because you should be.” The Dragons were reacting not only to what they had heard but to what they had seen of the speaker, whose performance did not impress. Clearly very nervous and not in control of her breathing, speech or body language, the impression she gave was chaotic.

Speaking Well In Public provides business training courses in public speaking at all levels. Contact us and we’ll be pleased to discuss your needs.

The Question & Answer Minefield

Public speakers often worry about the open Q & A part of an event. No matter how well you prepare and present, you just know that someone will ask a question that will make you look and feel silly, ignorant, un-prepared…

But it’s important to remember that Q & A can actually enhance a presentation, give it some variety, open it up, even become the most interesting and spontaneous part of the event.

Effective question and answer technique is a useful part of the public speaker and trainer’s toolkit. Learn more about these skills with Speaking Well In Public’s Further Public Speaking Skills courses:

New Training Skills
Business and Conference Confidence

Using humour in your speeches

• So what makes something funny?
• Is it wise to try to tell jokes in your speech?
• What effect can laughter have on your audience?
• How do seasoned speakers deal with a laugh?

Speaking Well In Public offers courses that look at all these questions. Contact us and we will be pleased to discuss your needs.

Things are difficult today.

Many people are looking for a new beginning, perhaps having faced redundancy.

Some want to fulfil their ambition to start their own business.

Others need to take on flexible extra work for additional income.

A popular and growing solution is to become a party organiser or home sales consultant with an established and successful brand, hosting or visiting clients’ house parties to demonstrate and sell the company’s products direct to groups of friends.

Direct home selling is a form of public speaking, and public speaking is simply a set of skills that can be learned.

Speaking Well In Public are currently planning a new addition to our Spring Into Public Speaking courses for beginners:

Public Speaking for Private Parties