For Men – Become A Better Public Speaker! Brushing Up on Your Oratory and Conversation Skills Can Show Class

Fear of public speaking is hardly uncommon – in fact it is one of the first phobias that might spring to mind when trying to recall fears common to the human condition. However, as primarily and intimately social creatures, it will be required of any gentleman to make a speech at a wedding, funeral, community event, or even simply a holiday dinner or party. Though some of us are born with a natural charisma and may not need much assistance in realm of conversation and oratory – even silver-tongued devils need a few pointers and guidance every once in a while!

Prepare Notes and Practice Privately

The most common reason for flubbing a speech is very simple – being unprepared and not having practiced your words at least a few times beforehand. Although nearly everyone will find stress in a looming deadline for a public speaking engagement – it is important to prepare cue cards with a basic narrative for you to look down on and remind yourself of what you might say next.

Another common mistake many speakers and hosts make is to prepare a speech in it's entirety on a sheet of paper with the intention of either memorizing it, or repeating it verbatim. It is impossible for most people to memorize a speech of any length, and reading it verbatim is boring, uninteresting, and purely mechanical – devoid of emotion or warmth.

By preparing between a half-dozen and a dozen vital cue cards that will serve as a mnemonic in order to guide your speech to key points and memories – you will easily be able to expound on these basic hints to tell the story in your own words – lending a personal inflection that shows your feelings and style. You also will not be faced with the pressure of having stumbled over a misread sentence or sweat it out trying to find your place – you will simply be guided by general ideas into a natural conversation with your audience.

Practice your speech, casually, in front of a mirror. In this fashion you will quickly discover details that perhaps should stay unmentioned, distracting body language or verbal tics, and discover which lines work best in delivery. Always be expressive and genuine in your speaking – by showing your personality and sentiment in a speech you will nearly always evoke a positive response in your audience. Practice makes perfect, so be sure to run through your work a few times to be sure to get the kinks out.

Outside Assistance, Birds of a Feather

If you find that private practice and cue cards do not assist you enough to perform well in public, it may be time to consider joining a club of like minded ladies and gentlemen who likewise share your ambition, becoming a proficient and compelling orator. Famously, associations known as Toastmaster's clubs and societies are common in most major communities – circles of folks who are deeply invested in public speaking as a hobby and as a walk of life.

Toastmasters International is a worldwide organization that shares this positive and empowering communications mantra : “Become the Speaker and Leader You Want to Be”. Highly regarded by professionals and students of the language arts alike, it is an NGO centered around the concept of empowering individuals to become better communicators and trendsetters in their respective communities and social networks. Boasting nearly a quarter-million individual members in 92 countries, any gentleman who might like to make a commitment toward being a more involved and ambitious communicator would do well to consider joining the Toastmasters.

Making a committed and serious effort towards broadening your comfort level, vocabulary, and verbal delivery will surely deliver the results you are looking for – and perhaps make you the life of any party or engagement you might imagine!

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Jan 6, 2009 3:20 PM

Guest :

Toastmasters is terrific for building skills and community - however if someone has a really serious FEAR of public speaking it is a lot more efficient to work with someone who specializes in helping people overcome this fear.

Months of practice may do nothing to help a 'phobic' response, but there are rapid methods for 'rewiring' the mind's response to the idea of speaking so that fear just doesn't happen.

We are just one of a number of organizations specializing in this work - and of course would be happy to help anyone who needs it.

Seymour Segnit
CTRN:Change That's Right Now
http://www.ChangeThatsRightNow.com/Fear-of-Public-Speaking.asp

Jan 7, 2009 9:05 AM

Guest :

When it comes to conquering stage fright and fear of public speaking, your tips here are very good; I'd like to add another tip or two with your permission.

To not only mitigate jitters, but also to actually be a better presenter than your experience would allow for, simply emulate someone with the qualities you wish you had.

Note that emulation is not imitation: professional impressionists "become exactly like" the person they are imitating. Emulation is NOT the same as imitation. Emulation means, at it's simplest, taking on the qualities of that person.

When, for example, you practice in front of the mirror casually, emulate the qualities of that person you chose to emulate. You can read the step-by-step of this technique I call "The Hero Process" at my website http://www.bestpublicspeakingtraining.com/ along with tons of other articles on conquering stage fright and fear of public speaking.

Finally, as a bit of motivation (hopefully) recognize these 2 important facts:

1. Conquering such a major fear - however you choose to do so - will provide you with a level of confidence and self-esteem that is worth the effort.

2. Once you realize that you can promote any business, product, service, cause, charity, or issue by simply standing up and speaking, you'll realize you have an amazing power right at your fingertips (or at your lips?!) and when that "light bulb goes on" above your head, you'll be empowered in ways you might never have imagined previously.

Best of success!
David Portney