Like most pubic speaking consultants, I usually hammer all the reasons a person should not be afraid of presenting. However, the more coaching I do, the more I realize the fear is legit. People should be afraid of getting in front of a group.
While there is a lot to gain from speaking publicly, there is also a lot to lose. Here are seven reasons to be scared…
Most people have one of two reasons for wanting to become a better speaker. Either they want to improve themselves (also for a number of reasons), Or they are interested in becoming paid public speaker. The path to becoming a better speaker is exactly the same in either case, until, the speaker comes to a fork in the road. One fork leads the speaker toward career in speaking,the other toward more of same self improvement in speaking.
Practicing speaking at organizations like Toastmasters is an excellent way to develop skills, build confidence and gain an understanding of the craft, but at some point there is no better teacher than actually getting out in front of a live audience and delivering your stuff!
So where to speakers find “gigs”? Well, just like anything else, you need to get out there and make an effort to find them yourself. Many speakers want to know where they can get themselves listed so they can start getting more exposure. Locate Speakers www.locatespeaker.com is one such website that will list speakers for a small fee. These lists are then available to meeting planners, clubs and other organizations who are looking for speakers.
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The most common mistake people make when self publishing their books is to ignore marketing until it is too late. As an author, you want your book to be the best in its category. To make it stand out from the rest, you need to market your book carefully and there are a lot of decisions to make right at the start.
Many years ago when I worked in camera store, a customer came in one day with a very old roll of unexposed B&W film. He wanted to buy a camera that would fit that type of film so he could use up the film. The film was so old, all camera manufactures had long since quite making cameras that would take that type of film. I explained to him that the roll of film was worth maybe $2.00 (if it was still any good) and suggested he throw out the old film and consider a new camera and wooowooo “color” film. He thanked and left with is old roll of film.
I think about this story quite often when I am dealing with authors and writers. They have such knowledge and enthusiasm for their ideas and topics, unfortunately many of them, especially new writers and authors seldom give little if any thought to who will be buying their books and where and how they will be getting them.
If you’ve had an intense fear of public speaking for many years and have tried a variety of ways to rid yourself of the fear - without success, you’ve probably concluded that you’ll probably never get rid of the fear. Or, if you do, it will take a lot of time, effort, and reinforcement.
If you’ve used most conventional methods to get rid of your fear, you’re probably right. The Lefkoe Method (TLM) is not one of the conventional methods. In fact, TLM is the only technique that has been scientifically proven to totally eliminate the fear of public speaking. As Lee Sechrest, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Arizona, concluded after conducting a rigorous scientific study with 36 people who had a severe fear of public speaking, “The Lefkoe Method was effective in virtually eliminating the fear of public speaking.”…..
Interesting and powerful visual aids can almost guarantee a successful and overly effective speech. A majority of speakers don’t use visual aids or when they do, they make it almost impossible for the audience to fully understand, listen to what you are saying, and to take notes at the same time.
Visual aids that are poorly designed will often force the listener to decide between listening to you or reading the visual aid…guess which one they’ll choose? If it takes your audience longer than seven seconds to understand your content, they will become readers at that point and stop listening to what you are saying…
Like most pubic speaking consultants, I usually hammer all the reasons a person should not be afraid of presenting. However, the more coaching I do, the more I realize the fear is legit. People should be afraid of getting in front of a group.
While there is a lot to gain from speaking publicly, there is also a lot to lose. Here are seven reasons to be scared…