Important of Public Speaking Skill

Important of Public Speaking Skill
For most people, the mere thought of speaking before an audience causes men's hands to go clammy and their hearts to pound like a kettledrum. Statistics show that people fear public speaking more than they do their own deaths. It shows that for the majority, people would rather die in silence than take a chance to speak their minds in society. Maybe it's conformity and a fear of saying something irrelevant.
The importance of communication lies in the fact that as social organisms, the ability to get your message across in the right way will do more good for you than the attempt to do a better job. Hunkering down faithfully to work is virtually useless if the boss does not even notice it.
The importance of public speaking is that it is inevitable. Sooner or later, you will be forced to enter the arena and speak to a sea of eyes and ears. Before that happens, it would always be better to meet that challenge on your terms.
Here are some points to ponder:
1. Career. People at work who can communicate better go up the ladder faster. Employers prefer hiring people with public speaking and communication skills. This is because speaking with your colleagues puts them at ease about you, helps you get your job done faster, and gets what you want done across much more easier.

2. Mental. You feel better about yourself. Successfully speaking before a live, listening audience improves your self-confidence, poise, character and sense of fun. You become less self-conscious, nervous, and can control higher levels of stress. This does not mean you won't make mistakes. Expect to make mistakes the first few times; learn from them, and keep on going. If you're consistent, that paralyzing fear of speaking to a large audience will be a thing of the past.

3. Opportunities. Oral Presentations positively impacts all aspects of your life. Being able to speak publicly opens up new opportunities unimagined in your former life. You will find yourself more eager to participate in causes you sincerely believe in, interact more with people of the opposite sex. You will find yourself assertively asking questions to clear up a problem, take the lead in a cause, or calmly explain a thorny situation without losing it. The effect of public speaking on your life is exponential.
Public speaking skill is an essential addition to the human repertoire. Technical knowledge is just as vital, but the ability to speak well takes your abilities and talents beyond the borders of your own skin and into the hearts and minds of others.

Developing Love for Public Speaking
Public speaking is an acquired taste for most people. That is, the first taste of it is usually disagreeable to the untrained person. Over time, if emboldened by a few tasty morsels, he develops a taste for it and eventually wonders how he ever lived without it.
The way to honestly be very good at something runs parallel to this analogy. To be exceptional requires that one loves the activity for its own sake. In public speaking, to love it means to share with others things you consider of relative value and importance.
Though all people approach public speaking with different goals in mind, a few pointers, if you will on how one can eventually find it an indispensable boon to one's life.
1. Let go of yourself. When you speak publicly, the only thing on your mind is the speech. It's really not the time for thoughts of your bills, arguments with the boss, and needing to have the car washed. All these other thoughts get in the way of you being natural on stage.
2. Be uniquely you. This may sound like a contradiction of the first pointer, but nothing is more true. If you let go of your ego and just let your true personality shine though, the audience will be awed by this. This is partly the reason why most people flock to movies and theaters, as a means to express their own feelings albeit vicariously. Words depend on the manner in which they are spoken and less by the matter these words are a part of.
3. Have a chat with your audience. Create a sense of give-and-take communication with the audience. Never let the audience feel you never wanted to be there with them in the first place. You will want your hearers to know that you are speaking with experience from the heart.
4. Wear your heart on your sleeve. Being passionate isn't right for some occasions, but being passionate in public speaking is just what the doctor ordered. Speak with emotion, confidence and conviction. There is no audience that would rather see the speaker.
5. Practice makes perfect. Practice with your speech and its delivery. Never neglect to exercise the mental and physical traits necessary to create a direct impact on the audience. Measure your performance by capturing your speech on video, or ask for advice from an expert. Find ways to improve your technique.
If you follow these suggestions, public speaking will never concern you with fear, worry and anxiety.

Having Fun with Public Speaking
While most people consider speaking in public worse than a death sentence, it does not have to be so. In fact, public speaking can be a fun and fruitful endeavor in the hands of a speaker with the right mindset.
And the first agenda when it comes to public speaking is to approach it in terms of having fun.
How can you ever have fun speaking to a large audience hanging on to your every word and gesture, you say? The answers are simple.
Here are a few tips to get you started.
1. Choose a subject near and dear to your heart. There is no better supplier of knowledge than experience. Your audience knows when you just read off a book and when you're speaking from having been there yourself.
Frankly speaking, unless you speak with emotional involvement with the subject, you cannot endear yourself to your audience. The audience looks for it, wants to know that whatever they are learning from you is worth their time and effort to listen to.
You want to be earnest, enthusiastic, excited, and persuasive. No other technique does this faster than being personally involved.
2. Capture the feelings you had about the topic. Again, your feelings are the key to a convincing speech and is the ability to project the feelings you had of the subject across the whole audience. Some may not agree with you and some may have felt you could have said it another way. But, none of them will forget you.
Speaking to the public monotonously and indifferently creates a sense of objectivity not appreciated by the audience. The stage is not the time to become dispassionate. Imagine the reason why we patronize movies and theater so much. It is partly because we want to see depth of emotion expressed fully.
As human beings, we need to see humanity in others.
3. Speak and act sincerely. You must approach the speech like a man going to have a good time, not like a man heading for a hanging. No matter what happens, you must have the will to survive with a sense of humor. In this tip, one must find a way to appreciate the situation he is in, and then find a way to turn the tables to his advantage.
The ability to float right-side up when you are down in public speaking is a great test of personal character more than anything. To act with sincerity in all that you do will permeate his being and will become most noticeable with the audience.

Techniques Comparison
As everybody will certainly agree that having the confidence to speak publicly is a valuable skill, there is much debate as to which technique of public speaking is the most effective.
Currently, the most recognized associations are Toastmasters International and the Dale Carnegie Course.
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of the principles of communication, public speaking and leadership skills. It achieves this by promoting a "learning-by-doing" program in which members move up by making presentations in the presence of certified examiners.
The Dale Carnegie course is a program for self-improvement in which the emphasis is to be able to get the message across to the audience utilizing the speaker's naturalness. There are fewer rules and lots of practice sessions. The course consists of twelve evening sessions; all participants are required to present a short speech.
Toastmasters Pros
Toastmasters certainly makes everything clear-cut when it comes to passing the exams. Each member is provided with a Communication and Leadership Manual containing ten speech projects the member has to fulfill. Members will then be evaluated and his speech criticized according to a set of rules.
When the member completes these projects, he is recognized to have achieved a level of competence. Advanced projects are also available after the "basics" are done to move the member up some more.
Members are encouraged to frequently attend meetings and enjoy a sense of camaraderie with fellow members.
Toastmasters Cons
This system seems to not be suited for people who wish to speak well but would like to retain their informality as speakers. For example: Fillers, the areas in a speech when a speaker pauses and makes an involuntary sound like "uhm" and "ah", is a very human habit and is considered an area for improvement.
The ranking system, though effective to show where the members stand, can also deter people from joining due to the perceived "elitist" nature of the ranking system.
Carnegie Pros
The course encourages the participant to use what works for him to an extent. The rules are few but fundamental. Fillers are acceptable as long as they do not distract the audience from the speech.
There are facilitators but there is no certified examiner. All participants in the session are asked to give their opinion about the speech in their terms. Some would consider Carnegie a course to understand the target audience whether it is laymen or intellectuals.
This course has a positive perception with many businesses.
Carnegie Cons
This system has been criticized by some that the time spent in particularly large classes is wasted waiting for others to finish their speeches. Some feel that this time would be better spent having two or three speeches in one night instead.
This goes to show that there are many systems to choose from but only one goal in public speaking. That is to get the message across in a manner that does not hinder the speaker.
Why Do You Hate Public Speaking
Several people despise the idea of having to verbally elaborate anything in front of an audience. Research has shown that the anxiety of public speaking stems from the following reasons:

1. The display of signs of anxiety such as shaking or trembling.

Surely, not a lot of people would like to be seen by a massive audience looking like a wimp, making a fool of one's self while jittering and trembling.

2. The fear of mental block.

There could be nothing more embarrassing than being waited upon to say things when you realize that your memory has just failed you. It is not uncommon with people who are speaking in front of a large audience for their mind to go blank . This is caused by the mental stress one undergoes while speaking in public.

3. Doing anything embarrassing.

The fear of becoming a laughingstock is what makes public speaking very frightening. With a large audience before you, you never know what's in their mind while you are giving your best in delivering your speech.

4. Discontinuing the speech.

It's another phenomenon that is commonplace with public speaking when one stops talking. Making people wait for your next words is stressful enough to hate public speaking.

5. Not making sense or saying silly things.

Like all the other reasons as to why a lot of people cringe at the thought of speaking in public, mumbling unintelligible words is another one of those shameful things that many would not want to experience.

After knowing all of these terrible things that people are trying to avoid when deciding on a public speaking engagement, it's high time to learn what can one do to prevent these from happening.

Prepare
The key element in order not to be a victim of these incidents is to be well-prepared. Nothing can beat preparation when it comes to public speaking. Even the smartest person can make use of ample time to gather all the resources he or she will use before delivering a speech.

Practice
Practice will also make things more well-facilitated. Getting more comfortable with your subject entails practicing the speech in front of a smaller audience like your family or even just by yourself.

Relax
Also, relaxing oneself before, during and after the speech will make things sail a lot smoother. Doing things that can put you in a relaxed mood such as eating chocolates, getting a breath of fresh air, or even smoking, though not a healthy option, might help you in psyching your body before the talk.
Causes of Public Speaking Anxiety
In a survey done by Dr. Laurie Rozakis, author of Idiots Guide to Public Speaking, it was found that many people are scared to speak before a group. It is the number one fear among Americans, "--and the number 6 is fear of death," according to Dr. Rozakis.
Even the most experienced speaker gets anxious when speaking in public. However, this timidity can be controlled so that you can put your fear to your advantage. This topic teaches us why people are nervous when speaking in front of a crowd and how you can conquer your fear.
FEAR OF THE AUDIENCE
People are afraid of rejection by their audience. Thus, many are terrified of public speaking for worry of being criticized by the crowd for how they look or how they deliver their speech. On the contrary, audiences are very understanding about the speaker's problem with stage fright. You become more nervous when your fearfulness of the audience increases.
Below are some strategies that can help you overcome your timidity of the audience.
• Choose a topic that you like and you are familiar with. The more comfortable you are about your chosen topic, the more confident you are in facing your audience.

• Concentrate on your topic. Focus on your topic and not on yourself. When you start to think of your subject matter and not yourself, your timidity of public speaking will likely decrease.

• Say to yourself: "I am the BOSS." Trust in your capability of delivering your speech. Showing that you are in charge decreases your anxiety and increases your confidence in facing the situation.

• Don't think of your audience as a threat. Bridge the gap between your audience and yourself. Analyze carefully to establish rapport. You should consider age, gender and their level of expertise. Remember to analyze your audience.
FEAR OF FAILURE
There are two ways to win over your fear of failure.
• Picture yourself succeeding. If you think that you will stutter in front of many people, chances are you will stutter. But if you visualize yourself delivering your speech well, then, you will.

• Face your worry. You cannot overcome your fearfulness unless you show it and admit that you are afraid of it.
FEAR THAT YOUR SPEECH IS A BAD SPEECH
• Write well. Take time to write your speech. Review it and rewrite if necessary. If you are confident with your speech, the less terrified you will be about speaking in public.

• Practice and ask for suggestions on how you can improve your speech in public speaking. Ask a friend of relative to act as your audience. Once you have delivered your topic, ask for their feedback. Don't be afraid to hear about what they will say. Their feedback can give you insight on what is good or bad in your speech.
Causes of Public Speaking Phobia
According to World Book Online Research Encyclopedia, "Phobia is an unreasonable yet strong fear of a certain object, class of objects or a situation." People who suffer phobia have a compelling desire to avoid the object or situation that causes their stress.

Phobia may be classified into two types:
• Specific Phobia, such as fear of animals (i.e. Arachnophobia - Fear of spiders; Necrophobia - Fear of death or dead things).

• Social Phobia is an anxiety disorder where the sufferer fears being assessed adversely in front of a group. Thus, Public speaking phobia is an over-emphasized fear of speaking in front of a group.
According to World Psychiatric Association (1995), Social Phobia affects one to 10 people at some stage of their lives. Sufferers experience dizziness, muscle tension, trembling, blushing and/or sweating, and even heart palpitations when exposed to the feared object or situation. Others do not manifest physical symptoms but they are overtly conscious of how others react to them. They also have a tendency to underestimate their capability to overcome the feared situation.

Among the common effects of Social Phobia in a person are:
• Unstable employment record
• Have less or no friends
• Being single
• Having a low educational attainment
Studies show that public speaking phobia, and most phobias, develop in middle or late childhood stage. It usually starts from an unpleasant experience like being humiliated in front of the class; this unpleasant experience gets stored in the child's memory and is brought up when faced with similar situations.

Children who have been exposed to people with public speaking phobia, like their parents or friends, learn the phobia by hearing them. They immediately conclude that what they have heard of is true without actually verifying the facts.

Research also shows that genetics also play an important role in developing phobias. It has a tendency to occur in families. Phobias are mostly likely to occur in identical twins, than in fraternal twins.

Luckily, there are many ways to treat Phobia.
• PERSONAL MOTIVATION. There are many self-help books that can help you overcome your public speaking phobia. Your desire to overcome your fear is the most important factor of treatment.

• PROFESSIONAL TREATMENT. If self-treatment does not work for you, you can seek help from a professional. Exposure to therapy is a good example of this method, which focuses on the behavior instead of the thoughts of the sufferer.

• Other kinds of treatment include:

o Counseling - discussing your phobia with a professional.
o Hypnosis
o Medication - This method is used if the sufferer has other mental conditions that are affected by the phobia. The use of these drugs can only be used for a short period of time. Using medication alone cannot cure the phobia.

Public Speaking Lesson
The benefits of communication are evident from the least sophisticated creatures to the most advanced as in humans.
Perhaps, among the creatures especially endowed with the power of communication, humans make use of them more intensely and with a purpose that each speech made has had some effect on the people who hears them.
Not only do humans use communication in everyday survival but uses it for a variety of reasons. It is used to inspire and to deliver important messages in a well-structured and equally measured manner.
Public Speaking
In a recent survey, more than 90% among the 1000 American individuals interviewed are afraid of hosting a speaking engagement. 20% of them have at least done such acts and never want to do it again while 75% commented that there are people who are endowed with such skills and that public speaking should be reserved solely to them.
In a monologue lecture, one has to inform, influence, and convince people. This can only be done through the use of speech that is well crafted, revised and edited.
The above criteria can only be met if the speaker has a main purpose in mind, a tool to convey the very same purpose with a full consideration of the recipient audience.
In order for your speech to become as effective as you want it to be, you have to consider the four elements of the above activity, and tailor activities and strategies that will effectively drive your audience into believing everything you have to say.
Who/whom – Your audience is your best resource when considering in what manner you would want to conduct your speech. You should deliberately come up with a verbal address that is appropriate to your audience. Consider their age, level of education, place in the society, and your level of relationship with them.
Ron Kurtus, an experienced speech master, commented that your first and primary purpose of speaking is to communicate ideas that you think your listeners would like to hear; something that they want to internalize and be part of their lives and something which can they can use for their daily living and gain rewards along the way.
What – Your topic will provide you an effective idea and help you develop a talk which is most appropriate, timely and equally-relating to your listeners and spectators. Your topic can be as complicated as you want it to be as long as your audience is aware of the main topic at hand.
When – As you go along making your speech, you may want to ask yourself if the subject of your talk is timely or something which your audience could probably relate to.
You do not want to explain the science behind Alzheimer if you are talking to business folks who are looking for ways on how they can develop a procedure for managing their business and get warranted results.
In a sense, one has to consider if one has the opportune time to talk about things to their audience that will make a direct impact on how they view the world and the concepts surrounding your topic.
How – As today's world becomes a place for entertainment, people expect their speakers to be lively and use strategies that will arouse their interest and help them better understand the complexities by which your topic is founded.
Dr. Stephen D. Boyd says that a 20 or 200 person audience is similar in terms of maintaining their interest on what you have to say. Speakers battle on the external factors which play in getting the attention of your listeners.
Listeners expect their client speaker to speak with vigor, humor, vitality, confidence, and animation. This can be in the form of creating something catchy like a surprising and unusual story, an unbelievable figure and/or your personal experiences.
If you are tired and emotionally stressed, your listeners can feel it. It is evident in your voice, in your actions and the way you move your hands and body when public speaking. You will be physically restricted and repressed and could hardly do more to stir excitement among your audience.
While these and other factors affect the way you conduct your speech in public speaking, it is important to follow several recommendations that will help you combat the consequences of your audience finding out your true physical state.
• Vary your pace of speaking
• Pause to make a point
• Demonstrate gesture that is relevant to the idea that you are trying to point out
• Employ facial expressions
• Make sensible and purposeful movements

Effective Habits of Public Speaking
A promising spokesperson often encounters risk before they arrive to the right thing. However, top speakers strive for excellence toward their goals. This article provides you with the effective habits a of successful speaker.
1. Be determined in your pursuit to be an outstanding spokesperson. Show excellence through your experiences, study, and how you tailor your material to match your audience.

2. Be patient in your goal to succeed. Persistence is a must. There is no such thing as overnight success in public speaking. Attend training about effective speaking; or ask someone who has mastered the art of public speaking.

3. Develop a passion for your topic. Your audience will not care to listen to you if you show less interest in your topic. Jot down the topics that you love. Then, choose two or three that you can expound.

4. Be sincere and sensitive towards your audience. Share some of your unfavorable experiences involving your topic. This way your audience perceives you as a real person and they can relate to your subject.

5. Relate with your audience promptly. Avoid offensive remarks or jokes. State a funny story that is applicable to your subject; cite a quotation or an anecdote to keep their attention. Remember that you only have half a minute to connect to your audience. Use it wisely.

6. Prepare adequately. Research your topic. Do not throw away old materials that you have used. Organize material logically. Use supporting metaphors or analogies to solidify the message you want to convey.

7. Reinforce your key points with stories that people relate to. Be a proficient storyteller.

8. Communicate in ways that will help people learn. In a recent study, 80% of people learn by visual stimulation and only 20% actually learn by listening to the lecture. So do not underestimate the use of visual props and visual aids. Find other ways or tools that can help you achieve 100% of your audience's attention.

9. Practice. Memorizing your speech is not enough. Try to practice in front of a mirror or with a friend. Their feedbacks can help you improve the way you deliver your message.

10. Possess a genuine appreciation in what you do. Remember that not all people have the chance and the courage to speak in front of a large crowd. It is a privilege that is coupled with your responsibility to entertain, educate and persuade your audience. Public speaking is an art that requires a tremendous amount of skill.

Public Speaking Tips for Children
Public speaking is one skill that kids should enhance. Aside from practice, it requires personal coaching. Personal coaching includes the development of self-confidence and the effort on helping kids to improve their public speaking skills. For beginners it is important that they undergo this kind of learning to have a better approach.
Children have their own skills and abilities on how to deliver a presentation. It is up to the coach to bring out that natural skill in them. The kid only needs to listen and internalize all the things that the coach will teach.
If you are the kid being trained, you will be introduced to an approach in public speaking that can be convenient to you. The coach will not attempt to change your style and be different to other speakers; although speakers seem to be more effective if the audience finds him unique in his public speaking.
The coach will try to enhance your own skills and talents that are already present in you. You can expect comments and feedback from your coach during the training process. He will provide you the much needed guidance and specific knowledge for the coach is obliged to produce a better result in your training. Here are some reasons why you will need a personal coach:
- You may ask for a coach if you need help on a specific presentation that is very important to you.
-If you want to concentrate on specific communication and speaking issues that are covered in general workshops and seminars.
-If you have encountered sessions and workshops that progress slowly and are too standard or maybe do not get your interest.
-When you are too busy to attend training because you cannot choose just one that can answer your needs.
-If you are not comfortable in the team setting or you may feel that your speaking skills are on a much higher level.
-If you have undergone public communication and speaking lessons before and you may need additional knowledge and enhancement.
-If you have found you work much better and develop faster with a personal approach.
Getting a personal coach does not mean you are a slow learner or have poor communication skills. There are many reasons why will you need to have a personal coach, as mentioned in the above list.
Coaching can be just like that, like any sport where a team needs a coach to perform well and be guided on the executions. For a child that wants to be trained in public speaking as early as in his early childhood, it could be better if the child is already trained on how to address and interact to other people by means of public speaking.

Public Speaking Jobs
Sell what you know
Your knowledge and expertise in a specific field will make them come, so make sure to build your base in that area through a variety of different mediums and formats. You can reach a lot of people if they are familiar with your works, books, CDs, or audio tapes. They could recognize you easily and instantly know what it is you are an expert at. You could get hired without difficulty and be conveniently invited to various speaking engagements. This could instantly translate to a thriving business as well as numerous speaking engagements.
Try Corporate Sponsorship
You can attempt to get companies to sponsor your fees when you speak by being in touch with those organizations who might be interested to be associated with whatever is the message of your speaking engagement. There are a lot of opportunities to be creative. Think of any specific group or company that would be a perfect audience for your subject and propose your concept to that corporation's PR Department.
Try Speakers Bureau
What this type of organization does is to actually locate speakers for their clients. This bureau earns a bit of a percentage from whatever is the speaker's fee. Usually the percentage ranges between fifteen percent up to thirty percent. Although having a speakers bureau hire you would be a lot easier if you were a celebrity or already have a record of proven success in the public speaking field, it won't hurt if you try them out. It is also highly advisable that the materials you have for promotion do not include your contact number but the bureau's. This is done so that any client who is interested in booking you again will contact the bureau and not you. The more fees you earn, the higher their earnings. So the benefit works both ways.
Do Seminars in Public
The idea behind this is simple, you do a speaking engagement in public and people buy tickets to that engagement.
Or you could also inform several corporations of your public seminar and any interested employees that they may have will buy the tickets to your speaking engagement.
You could do your own promotions through your website or through mailing lists.
Do Seminars on the Phone
Yes Virginia, it is possible. An inexpensive telephone bridge line could be requested or a more expensive conference call. Would-be participants then call and once connected, the seminar is delivered over the telephone line. It saves a lot of travel expenses for everyone instead of a public speaking job. Any visual aids needed may be had via your website so participants should have ready access to a computer.

How to Land Speaking Jobs
You can make it easy if you really want to. Although there are those who would give the usual advice of attending a meeting with the famous Toastmasters in order to hone your impromptu speaking skills, this is not as necessary as being aware of yourself and the skills you could objectively define as good, better, best, or needs improvement.
If you know the level of your ability and if you feel you are ready for an actual job speaking in public, the following could be a convenient and effective means to land that speaking job you have always wanted.
Search, search, search and search
Google and Yahoo search is there to help anyone and everyone so make use of it. It is free and is also a quick and efficient way to find what you are looking for. You could enter the words, speaker jobs, or wanted speakers, in the search bar and click search.
Wait for a few seconds and opportunities for speaking engagement will be right there at your feet in your easy beck and call. Note down the companies, organizations, or seminar conferences that you are interested in. Or follow the links. There is a definite pot of public speaking job gold to anyone who seeks it.
Patience is the key
Sometimes it happens that there are few websites that teems with jobs in public speaking. Do not lose hope. There may be an instance where you will hit a jackpot and get lucky. There is a forum for speakers that is available on the internet. You could also try to check them out. What you would call a usual good fortune might actually be your perseverance paying off.
Take notes of schedules of conferences
Usually, there are organizations who annually or semi-annually host a seminar or conference where a lot of speakers are needed. This is the perfect occasion to put your foot inside the public speaking door. The typical search for speakers normally begins about six months or eight months in advance. The best thing to do is to check out their schedules and call or communicate with the organization at that time.
Try your hand at training companies
It wouldn't hurt if you try or at least apply for a public speaking job. There is such a company named CareerTracks which hires speakers on a contract basis. The job requires a bit of traveling as well as the skill to be able to sell products to audience attendees. For speakers who are just starting out, this experience is a good one to actually take a crack at.