Public speaking is one spoke on the marketing and PR wheel, but is a very powerful medium to get your name, your company’s name out there and to brand yourself and your organization as thought leaders.
This is an excellent article on getting yourself out to speak, either for yourself or your company (or both!).
Read the whole article here.
Language expert Wilfred Funk was one of the first to study highly successful men and women to determine what they have in common. What he discovered was that they all have the ability to communicate clearly and effectively. Since then, many studies have shown the same thing. In fact, members of the “speaking” professions – lawyers, politicians, professional speakers, salespeople, and entertainers – are among the highest paid. There appears to be a high correlation between word power and earning power. The ability to speak, to persuade, and to keep an audience’s attention is well rewarded.
What about you? Have you been sabotaging your own success because you feel that speaking in front of a group is something you would rather die than do? If so, it is time to do yourself a favour and learn the skills that can change your life.
There seems to be hundreds of theories and opinions about nerves in relation to making a presentation. Possibly one of the more famous sayings is that it is okay to have butterflies, as long as they are flying in the same formation. Other people say presentation nerves are built-in anti-complacency buttons, ensuring that we are always on edge and performing to our best.
For most people, just the thought of—or the hint that they might “have to” —speak in public automatically raises their anxiety level to red alert. In fact, it’s well know that many psychological polls rank public speaking as people’s #1 fear… usually ranking above the fear of death.
If you have any level of fear, even if you are terrified when it comes to public speaking, I’m here to tell you that you do not have to live with it. There are all sorts of techniques you can use, but the people at ThinkRightNow.com have produced a new audio program.
”You can literally erase your fear of public speaking… whether it’s a brutally intense fear or just a small twinge. And you can do it without effort or struggle with a new audio program just released:”
Very succinct list of way to overcome the fear of public speaking.
Click on the picture to get to the video
You need your nerves. You need your excitement and you need your energy before you present.
You also need to keep them under control and channelled into the best presentation you can give.
Depending on the space and the time that you have, try these physical strategies to tame the nervous in the body and give your mind a chance to relax and be positive before you bring speaking.
Stretch to relax. Rise on your toes and reach for the ceiling, with your head back. Tighten your muscles from legs up through abdomen, and then release. Relax the neck and shoulder muscles, letting head loll on neck in different directions.
Breathe to relax. Stand erect, but relaxed and balanced. Inhale while silently counting to five. Hold the breath for five counts, then exhale for five – all breathing is through the mouth. Your diaphragm should move, but your chest should not expand. You can gradually increase the number of counts for each breath to 10.
Relax your Jaw. Let your head loll forward. As you raise it, keep your jaw relaxed. Let it hang open, and smile to yourself at how silly it feels.
Relax your throat. Yawn …. This is how your throat needs to be to speak well – open, and relaxed.Keep relaxing the muscles throughout your body, your jaw, neck and throat until you walk to the presentation area. Then smile! and begin.
Take your focussed positivity, generosity and passion out onto the stage/platform/presentation space …. and enjoy!