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Thread: Giving speeches

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    Veteran Member calliope7's Avatar
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    Default Giving speeches

    So my semester is winding down and I have a few presenations (with Powerpoint-fun times) to give over the next two weeks. I am an absolutely horrible public speaker. I pause a lot, stuff my face in my notes, etc.

    At the same time though, its just weird that I am completely comfortable dancing almost naked on stage in front of a room of people. (Isn't that what they tell you when you're giving a presentation, to imagine the room naked .) Eh, while the majority of the population whould much rather give a presentation than get naked in front of people. I am so weird.

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Practice and then pretend you're presenting a great hustle spiel to some customers in the club. I think being a dancer and speaking in public have a lot in common; we were just talking in the dressing room a few days ago, and out of five of us back there, four had been debaters/public speakers in high school! It's not a hard transition to make. Good luck to you.

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    God/dess Paris's Avatar
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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Toastmasters are there to help! They've been around for a long time, and I believe that they are a nonprofit. It ahouldn't cost you anything (or very little) to attend.

    My mother is a minister and she would practice public speaking in front of the Toastmasters before doing it in front of her congregation.

    http://www.toastmasters.org/

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    Veteran Member ksalerio's Avatar
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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Im like that too & find it funny. I get scared before doing speeches but im 100%comfortable getting naked for bunch of strangers. lol

    So know how people say picture your audience naked to calm your nerves. Picture yourself naked

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    I remember the last time I gave a power point presentation. It was about a business idea I had. To open up this place called "Heaven's Gallore". Where the ladies go to see hot male strippers, eat, spa downstairs, etc. Shouldve seen the guys I put on there, lol. I had no shame, girls loved it. Teacher was kind of shocked.

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    Featured Member DSUsb19's Avatar
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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    We can take the criticism of our bodies a lot easier than we can take the criticism of our minds. Just try your best to relax. I know Southern Comfort is what got me through my Speech class last semester (that helped deliver 2 of the best speeches in the class). Try your hardest to supress the "uhh's" and "umm's", and do NOT use the word "like". Those 3 words, along with using anything remotely like "I'm here to talk to you about..." or "and that's it." resulted in an automatic grade of "C" or lower. Just relax and know your subject material. Being confident about your knowledge of your subject material is a huge part of being able to sucessfully deliver the speech.
    *~If you play with reservation, you never play to your full potential.~*

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    God/dess DancerWealth's Avatar
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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    As a public speaker my eyes opened when I saw this thread. I actually coach people on how to be more effective public speakers as well so if you have any questions on how to be as effective as possible, just ask. You are right though, it's amazing how many people are affraid of standing up in front of people and talking. I mention this in some of my seminars how they did a study years ago and asked people what their top fears were. Number 1 was the fear of public speaking and number 2 was the fear of fire. This means that people would rather burn-up than go on stage in front of a group of total strangers. Go figure.

    I'll give you one good suggestion to get you started though. Use your PowerPoint presentation as a guide for your lecture not the other way around. Many people tend to rely on their PowerPoint as a crutch, when, in fact you should only be using it as a guide to keep your place while you are lecturing. Have your speech down pat first...every nuance, turn of phrase, annecdote, bullet point, etc. down perfectly. THEN go back and create your PowerPoint only touching on the highlights of what you are saying on that particular point you are making. Use it only as a placeholder for yourself and you will actually give a much better presentation verbally.

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    Featured Member MadisonM's Avatar
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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    I always get nervous when I have to give a speech in class. I'm fine when I'm dancing around nekkid in front of tons of guys, but when I have to stand up fully clothed and give a speech, I start shaking, can't think straight, and I just get totally freaked out. Like someone else said- it's sometimes easier to have your body criticized than your mind. I know I look good (I'm not conceited, just confident... lol) but when I'm giving a speech, I'm always wondering if I sound good, or if my speech is interesting, or if I did it right. Another thing is that when you're giving a speech, it is for a part of your grade, which can raise anxiety because most students want to get a good grade, so are nervous about doing the presentation well.

    My advice is to try to relax and breathe slowly (I know-easier said than done) and when you look up from your note cards or whatever you use, instead of constantly looking around the room to make eye contact, find a spot on the back wall to look at. It will still look like you're making eye contact with someone, but you won't get as nervous as you would if you actually were looking at someone. Good Luck!!!
    Take the road less traveled- just make sure you have a map.

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    Member SabrinaSweet's Avatar
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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Something that helped me is to keep my gaze just over the heads of the audience. It looks like you are looking right at them but you aren't

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Quote Originally Posted by DancerWealth
    I'll give you one good suggestion to get you started though. Use your PowerPoint presentation as a guide for your lecture not the other way around. Many people tend to rely on their PowerPoint as a crutch, when, in fact you should only be using it as a guide to keep your place while you are lecturing.
    Isn't that the truth! That's why I always HATED watching those stupid things...nobody knew how to be a good presenter, even the (so-called) "professionals."

    Have your speech down pat first...every nuance, turn of phrase, annecdote, bullet point, etc. down perfectly. THEN go back and create your PowerPoint only touching on the highlights of what you are saying on that particular point you are making. Use it only as a placeholder for yourself and you will actually give a much better presentation verbally.
    That's what I always tried to do- I also found that it worked much better when I did!

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    Veteran Member calliope7's Avatar
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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Thank you guys!

    I have one next week where I'm supposed to pretend to be presenting a service recommendation to a corporate board of directors. Then some people in the class are supposed to try and disagree with me. I think I'm going to wear a suit to help me feel more professional. I also have one tomorow, which won't be as bad and two more group presentations later on.

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    I'm a business student (sounds like you are too) and we get powerpointed to death...
    My little tips would have to be:
    Practice on cue cards with the powerpoint also running until you get the hang of it and you can maneover your way through the presentation like it was nothing. Then, simply toss the cue cards for a few tries and see how you do...test this out in front of a friend (or a few if you can).

    Another thing is...for the love of god, don't be a repeater. <--You know? Those people who have a bunch of info on their slides and they re-read it as if the audience can't read? For some reason this is still really common...:/ i'm sure you don't do that but, just checking...i've even found myself doing it a bit a few times...the main focus should be what you are saying, and the powerpoint should have information on it that just enhances it, in my opinion.

    Hmmm...scrolled up and reread this trhead and realized that dancer wealth said everything I intended on saying, but better...lol

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Quote Originally Posted by Deni
    Isn't that the truth! That's why I always HATED watching those stupid things...nobody knew how to be a good presenter, even the (so-called) "professionals."
    The thing you have to understand about many professional speakers is that many of them are actually not professional "speakers." What I mean by that is that while they are on a platform speaking about a product or service or lecturing on a topic, they are not professional speakers per se. Rather, they are professionals on the topic they are speaking about which is a huge difference. I see this sort of thing all the time on the lecture circuit.

    You have Bob Smith or Jane Doe and they learn some skills in some field of expertise. Let's say it's real estate. So they get good at it and start making money doing it. They refine their skills and start making really good or even huge money doing it. Now they develop some sort of seminar or product where they can teach this information to others at a profit. They go and lecture about this program they created and sell it at the back of the room. The key component missing here is that they never once took any formal classes on how to be a seminar speaker or lecturer. Unfortunately, this makes up the bulk of public speakers out there and is why so many "professional speakers" are really pretty lousy on stage. This is what sets speakers who close sales on 8% of the room (the industry standard) from those who close 40% of the room (speakers such as Marshall Sylver, Ron LeGrande, Robert Allen, etc.). This is why many of the top speakers in the world now offer speaker bootcamps that teach you now to be inspirational, motivational, and close sales or get your point across from a platform. I've seen some of these programs (such as one offered by John Childers) which is $25,000 for a 3 or 4 day course and they're worth every penny in my opinion.

    Granted, you aren't using public speaking as a profession but even in giving a lecture for a class, your presentation skills will make or break the information you are working so hard to get across to your listeners, and in turn, that's sales when you stop and think about it. Instead of selling a product or service, you're selling an idea or concept...same difference.

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Quote Originally Posted by DancerWealth
    The thing you have to understand about many professional speakers is that many of them are actually not professional "speakers." What I mean by that is that while they are on a platform speaking about a product or service or lecturing on a topic, they are not professional speakers per se. Rather, they are professionals on the topic they are speaking about which is a huge difference. I see this sort of thing all the time on the lecture circuit.

    You have Bob Smith or Jane Doe and they learn some skills in some field of expertise. Let's say it's real estate. So they get good at it and start making money doing it. They refine their skills and start making really good or even huge money doing it. Now they develop some sort of seminar or product where they can teach this information to others at a profit. They go and lecture about this program they created and sell it at the back of the room. The key component missing here is that they never once took any formal classes on how to be a seminar speaker or lecturer. Unfortunately, this makes up the bulk of public speakers out there and is why so many "professional speakers" are really pretty lousy on stage. This is what sets speakers who close sales on 8% of the room (the industry standard) from those who close 40% of the room (speakers such as Marshall Sylver, Ron LeGrande, Robert Allen, etc.). This is why many of the top speakers in the world now offer speaker bootcamps that teach you now to be inspirational, motivational, and close sales or get your point across from a platform. I've seen some of these programs (such as one offered by John Childers) which is $25,000 for a 3 or 4 day course and they're worth every penny in my opinion.

    Granted, you aren't using public speaking as a profession but even in giving a lecture for a class, your presentation skills will make or break the information you are working so hard to get across to your listeners, and in turn, that's sales when you stop and think about it. Instead of selling a product or service, you're selling an idea or concept...same difference.
    That's a great point, but GEEZ...you'd think that would be one of the requirements when they hire someone to go around and present/make a sales pitch for a company. Sending around an untrained speaker to represent your company isn't exactly a bright idea... but I'm just the one without a degree (yet), so what do I know?

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    Quote Originally Posted by Deni
    That's a great point, but GEEZ...you'd think that would be one of the requirements when they hire someone to go around and present/make a sales pitch for a company. Sending around an untrained speaker to represent your company isn't exactly a bright idea... but I'm just the one without a degree (yet), so what do I know?
    Actually, many companies that send a speaker to represent them do, in fact, hire good speakers. Not all, but certainly most look for good presenters first that can be trained to promote their product or service. I do this kind of gig all the time as to most people in the trade-show business and such. Now, on the other hand, most of the lower-quality speakers are representing their own product or service rather than hire a professional speaker to do it for them. Most of these guys think, "Heck, getting up on stage isn't that tough" so they do it anyway. You'd be shocked at how such little nuances can make dramatic differences in how the information is presented. Even down to how you plant your feet on stage can hold your hands can make huge differences in your presentation.

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    Default Re: Giving speeches

    I love public speaking. Just pretend your talking to a customer, except he can't interrupt or argue until your done!



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