9 Easy Steps to Be a Confident Public Speaker in 2009

The fear of public speaking affects almost everybody. In fact, many of us are eager to avoid speaking in public, but that is not easy.

How to conquer the fear of public speaking?

For most people the thought of having to perform in front of an audience is very frightening. To conquer this fear you have to understand that this fear is totally illogical. Public speaking is like any other skill. You need to learn it through practice and eventually you will become a good public speaker.

How can I deliver a public speech?

The first thing you need to deliver a speech or a presentation in front of an audience is confidence. When you have confidence it will show in the way you speak. And when you speak confidently, the reaction you get from your audience will be positive.

What can you do to overcome your fear of public speaking?

1) Rehearse well

If you have to deliver a public speech, make sure that you rehearse well. Get all the information and notes in advance. This will help you become familiar with your subject. And when you know your subject well you will feel well prepared.

2) Visualize the speech

Visualize the speech in your mind. Make sure that during this process you see yourself coping with the situation well. You may encounter some problems during your speech. For instance, you may be stressed. When you visualize your speech, try to foresee the problems as well. Here again see yourself dealing with them with enough confidence.

3) See this as a challenge

So you have to deliver a public speech. Take it as a challenge and as an opportunity to learn and improve a new skill. Don't consider it as a burden you can't get rid of.

4) Slow down

If during the speech, you realize that you are stressed, don't panic. Don't rush ahead. Take a few deep breaths. Calm yourself and slow down. By slowing down you will be able to look more confident.

5) Smile

A smiling face conveys confidence. So keep smiling. When you smile you relax your facial muscles and this remove tension from your face making you look confident.

6) Practice

Haven't heard that practice makes a person perfect? That is true. Through constant practice you can learn and perfect the art of public speaking. The truth is that nobody is born knowing how to deliver a public speech. All those people who can speak confidently learned this skill through practice. Through some practice you too will be able to master this skill.

7) Use Affirmations

Repeat positive things over and over to yourself. Tell yourself that you will be able to do this job well. Don't give in to doubts regarding your ability to deliver a speech.

8) Don't be afraid of failure

A lot of people don't want to deliver a speech in public, because they are afraid of failure. Overcome this fear.

9) Overcome shyness

Some people are afraid of public speaking because they are very shy. Shyness affects a lot of people. If you are one among them, you have to make some conscious efforts to overcome this.

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Being an Excellent Speaker

The sad truth is that excellence makes people nervous.

- Shana Alexander

What is Excellence in Speaking?

Excellence in speaking is being so good, that everyone in the room wants you to speak as much as possible. An excellent speaker is alive with energy, has fully internalized their speech, and captivates and motivates an audience to action. Without gimmicks, without a sales pitch, and without having to be "perfect", an excellent speaker gets us thinking about our life and how we can live it differently.

On Becoming Excellent

I have mentored and coached speakers ranging from professional trainers and presenters to people who have been scared to death of speaking in front of an audience. The trainers and presenters are similar; they are usually good but they want to be great. The people scared of speaking are usually bad, but they know that it is a fear to be conquered.

After six months of similar practice, both the professional and the neophyte can have the same level of speaking ability. The reality of speaking is that it does not take much practice to become a good speaker. For me, after just six months of Toastmasters, people would tell me that I should become a professional speaker. That I, "have what it takes." However, they did not watch the tapes.

After watching the video tapes of my speeches, I realized that yes, I was good but I was not great. While my presentations might have impressed a group of Toastmasters, I did not have the content, the connection, and the sparkle that separated good from great. That gap is what most people don't appreciate, other fear, and many more don't understand the amount of work it takes to cross.

Why Would Someone Fear Excellence?

A fear of excellence can come from a fear of standing out, a fear of failure, or a fear of change. Self improvement junkies like me want to cross that gap, want to get better, and want to make a difference. Many people are not like me. There are many speakers in this world that don't want to make a big splash, so they allow that fear to take hold. Those are the ones that do just enough to get good, but don't cross over to excellence.

How do I Conquer the Fear and Allow Excellence?

There are two keys to conquering the fear and allowing you to become excellent. The first is to admit that you have room for improvement and second is to focus on the steps it takes to become excellent. Let's talk about each of those in a little detail.

Admitting a Need for Improvement

Admitting that I am only good is something that I struggled with for a long time. Early on in my speaking, many people would tell me I should be a professional speaker. Needless to say, I let that go to my head. Thinking you are great when you are only good is a surefire way to stay stuck at just good.

To overcome this, videotape yourself giving speeches to an audience. The tough part is then watching them as a dispassionate observer and realizing that you are not as good as you thought. When you start doing this, you will notice what needs corrected and you will be able to put those corrections into action. Doing this forces you to get better as a speaker.

Focus on Becoming Excellent

Becoming excellent as a speaker is not as easy as saying you will be better. Becoming an excellent speaker is devotion to both the techniques of speaking and the development of excellent content. There are many speakers in this business that are either excellent speakers or excellent content producers. There are very few speakers that can do both. If you focus, day by day at improving your content and becoming a better speaker, you will move towards excellence.

The Path to Excellence in Speaking

The path to speaking excellence is not a day hike through an idyllic wonderland. Obtaining speaking excellence will require hard work, steady determination, and a dose of professional feedback. If that is something you seek, then attend and participate in as many Toastmasters meetings as possible, continually improve through study, and attend seminars and workshops that will coach you to speak better. It is not going to be an overnight transformation, but your continual dedication to self improvement will pay off. You just have to give it time and don't fear it happening.

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5 Hot Tips on How to Become a Motivational Speaker

If you are a professional speaker, you are not in the speaking business! You are in the business of marketing your speaking services. Your talent or message will only take you so far but when you learn to become a top notch marketer, your public speaking business will go through the roof!

Early in my motivational speaking career, I would see mediocre speakers get public speaking jobs that even I couldn't obtain. Worse yet, I would see these speakers get job after job while I knew I was a better speaker!

Looking back, I laugh at my frustration, because while I may have been a decent speaker, I couldn't figure out how to get bookings for motivational speaking and was not making nearly the money other speakers were making. I started to wonder what these other guys were doing that John and I weren't. I've now made the shift: I make a ton of money in my motivational speaking career not because I'm a great speaker, but because I am a great marketer. Here are some tips to help you do just that.

1) Don't Fill Your Ego, Fill Your Bank Account. The first thing to remember when starting a motivational speaking business is to fill your bank account instead of filling your ego. Have the mindset to go after jobs that put money in your pocket instead of focusing on fame and stardom. Remember to always do what is profitable before you do what is exciting.

2) Teach people how to give you money. Conference planners aren't sitting around thinking how they can get you rich. Their whole goal is to put on an amazing conference or seminar and I can guarantee you that they aren't focused on putting money in your pocket. For that very reason, you should teach people how to give you money. Pre-sell your book and show the conference planner how they can give the book for free by including the price of it in the registration fee. Learn to offer pre-sell merchandise and back of the room merchandise. Never be afraid to go after the big money.

3) One idea can make all the difference. If you're wondering how to make money in the motivational speaking industry, know that one idea is all you really need to get started. Do different things to help you generate the ideas you need and then be prepared to take action on them.

4) Never stop learning. In fact what I help you do is learn multiple proven, time-tested formulas that will attract unlimited and continuous wealth so that you can live stress free and live exactly how you want to live each and every day. You want to work smart, but you also want to work right. You want to learn to use strategies that work instead of trying to work with get-rich-quick schemes that end up disastrously.

5) Market. Market. Market. If no one knows you about you, then they can't give you a motivational speaking job. As simplistic as this concept sounds, I often find people who claim to never advertise or dip into vain self-promotion. I don't think self-promotion is vain. In fact, I think not marketing yourself is the equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.

With these motivational speaking tips applied in your public speaking career, your business will reach the public speaking success you've always desired. Use these tips today.

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