You Can Be A Janet Schlarbaum Public Speaker By Fran Watson.

Have you ever watched a speaker and said, “Wow, I wish I could speak like that”? or “That person was just so wonderful. I could never do that.” Well, I’ve got some good news for you. You too can be a public speaker. Public speaking is a learned skill, so anyone can do it. You just need to follow some simple steps and practice, practice, practice. If you know how to talk, you can become a public speaker.

Becoming really good at public speaking requires some risk, but you have been taking risks all your life. When you were a toddler, you risked falling down when you took your first steps. You risk scraping your knees or falling when you start roller blading. You risk falling off when you start bike riding. You risk being rejected when you ask someone out on a date, and you risk getting into an accident every time you drive your car.

If you gave up after your first fall, you’d still be crawling. If you were afraid to fall off your bike, you’d still be riding with training wheels. If you were afraid of getting into an accident, you’d never get behind the wheel of a car. And guess what, you’re still here – you’ve survived all of that. You’re risk takers!! You’ve proved that by coming to Toastmasters. The greatest fear is that of public speaking and here you are – wanting to learn how to do it.

How many of you enjoy watching figure skating? Now, you wouldn’t expect to be a world class figure skater the minute you put on a pair of skates, would you? No, you’d expect to have to practice for years before becoming that good. Nor would you expect to make the NHL without years and years of winter and summer hockey.

How many of you enjoy watching racing? Would you expect to be another Mario Andretti the minute you get behind the wheel? Now, I will admit that there seem to be a few drivers out there who think they are Mario, but most people would expect to have to practice for years before reaching his status.

Now, I think everyone here knows how to walk. When you think of walking 25 miles, it seems like a long distance, but it is actually only putting one foot in front of the other a number of times and you know how to do that. It just takes practice to go the distance. It’s the same thing with public speaking. It just takes putting one word after another.

The key to getting up in front of an audience is believing that you have something to share with them that may make a difference in their lives – by entertaining them, warning them, encouraging them, or giving them direction or information.

The great thing is – you all do have something to say that people would be interested in hearing. Each of you has come through life in a different way. You may have encountered difficult circumstances and survived. Your experience could help someone else in the same situation.

If you remember jokes or enjoy telling stories to your friends, practice a little more and soon you can be telling your jokes and stories to large audiences. If you are really good at something, consider sharing the steps of how you got there.

By following the steps outlined in the Toastmasters’ manuals, and with the encouragement of fellow Toastmasters, you can learn how to craft a speech and how to deliver it. You can learn how to use props, how to modulate your voice, and how to use words that your audience will understand.

You will often hear the words “stage time” used by Toastmasters. That is the only way to get better. In order to be good at anything, you have to practice. Winston Churchill overcame a speech impediment to become a master orator. He had to practice for hours to deliver a speech.

You can get very discouraged if you expect to be as good as Zig Ziglar right away. But if you listen to his story, you will find that it took a very long time before he was able to do what he does so well.

The thing to remember is that the only person you need to compare yourself to is you. You are working for your personal best, so when you are preparing your speech and practicing, all you need to ask yourself is – is your second speech better in some way than your first? Did you learn something new as you prepared for your speech? Did you learn something from the evaluative comments of others after you gave your speech? Then, that’s all you need to do. You can use what you’ve learned to make the next speech your best to date and then use the same process for each speech you give. Just take one step at a time.

Thanks to Janet Schlarbaum

3 Janet Schlarbaum Steps to Being More Expressive By Nancy Daniels.

That which makes the voice truly interesting to listen to is color. Color is the life, the emotion, the animation one exudes in talking, be it at the lectern, in the sales meeting, over the phone or in a one-on-one conversation. Through my many years as a voice specialist, I have discovered some very interesting correlations between the professions we choose and whether we speak with color. At the top of that list are athletes, research scientists, and CPA’s who often exhibit little or no expression in their delivery. (Please understand that I am generalizing.)

Color is heard not only in the voice but is seen in one’s facial expression as well as one’s body language. Harrison Ford is a wonderful example of excellent facial expression, excellent body language. The tone of his voice is somewhat static – he doesn’t display a lot of variety in his voice – but as an actor in the types of roles he plays, he almost doesn’t need vocal variety: his face and his body display or ’speak’ every emotion he is feeling.

Step 1

To see just how expressive you are (or aren’t!), watch your face in a mirror and say the following statement – She said yes – as if you were delighted. Now say those words again – She said yes – as if you were disappointed. Did you notice a difference in your facial expression between delight and disappointment? If there was no difference, then you probably need some work.

Step 2

Let’s work with – She said yes – again. This time when you look in the mirror, smile when you say it and nod your head up and down just a bit. (Don’t overdue it.) Did you notice a difference? Now when you say – She said yes – I want you to frown and shake your head back and forth as if you were sad or disappointed. Was there a difference? If you noticed a difference, then you’ve just taken the 2nd step to speaking with color.

Step 3

Record yourself saying – She said yes – the first time as if you were delighted (you just found out you won the lottery) and the second time as if you were disappointed (your mother-in-law is coming to visit for 6 months). Play back the recording. You should notice quite a difference if you can ‘act’ in those two manners. I’m not advising you to act in normal conversation; however, expressing some emotion after finding out you just won the lottery or discovering your mother-in-law’s impending visit is normal. It is natural. It is what most people do.

When I teach color I explain to my clients that I want them to straddle the fence, meaning too much color is as bad as not enough color. Sometimes a client will exaggerate his/her ‘color’ which is not what I’m looking for. Exaggerated color is seen on the stage. That is the only place for it. Exaggerated expression sounds ridiculous because it is inappropriate. So if you already express emotion when you speak beware that you don’t go too far in improving on your delivery.

At the lectern, however, I often find that many people who are normally quite expressive have a tendency to lose their life, their color, their emotion. They are so overcome with panic and fear, that they don’t allow themselves to be expressive. Their voices become flat and their faces pale as they spit out a pile of words with little or no emotion. If this sounds like you, then you need to change.

Appreciation to Janet Schlarbaum

Author Michael A Jones

Thanks to Janet Schlarbaum for the post.

Here are some great public speaking tips for the introduction, body, and conclusion of your next presentation. To progress towards being a skilled public speaker, constant practice and improvement are necessary. It helps to get a partner to offer an honest appraisal or play back a video of your presentation and do a self-analysis. It can be very beneficial.

Here are some key public speaking tips to enhance your next presentation:

Introduction

Take a moment to stand before the audience, take a deep breath, and look around you. Don’t start speaking the second you arrive at the speaker’s stand. That initial pause can make you appear poised, relaxed, confident and in control. It can also help suppress initial nervousness. Deliver the first couple of sentences with an increase in power and volume. You want to grab the attention of the audience right away. A commanding voice is needed to do that, not a soft, apologetic tone.

Avoid an introduction that goes on and on. You don’t want to go on and on so the audience wonders when you are going to really get to the meat of the presentation. The introduction is the funnel which directs attention to the body of the talk.

Body

The body of your presentation contains your main points, why you are taking time to speak in the first place, and why people have turned up to hear you. So be sure what you say has weight and is meaningful. This can only be done through thorough research and good preparation. Even when speaking on a subject familiar to your audience, in the preparation stage always be on the lookout for an unusual angle, extraordinary facts, or a story or anecdote that gets the audience to view a familiar subject in a different way.

Make sure the main points of your presentation stand out by discreet repetition. You don’t want to sound like a creaking door, but carefully planned reviews can really sink the main thoughts into the mind of the audience.

A progressive summary is an excellent tool to that end. At the outset mention your main points, perhaps 1, 2 and 3. After point 1 repeat it and then say, now for point 2. After point 2 you recap points 1 and 2 and introduce point 3. After point number 3 you can again review points 1, 2, and now 3. This kind of progressive review makes sure your audience leaves with the main points firmly etched in their minds.

Conclusion

Don’t leave this part of your presentation as an afterthought. Prepare the wording carefully, especially the last sentence, as it will be the part the audience hear last and are likely to remember.

Also think about what you want to accomplish in your conclusion. Do you want your audience to take action? Then spell out clearly what needs to be done. Do you want to touch the hearts of your audience? Then weave some emotion into your last few sentences. Once you have identified your goal, you can create a motivating conclusion that will leave your audience very responsive.

These are just a handful of public speaking tips that can greatly enhance your presentations. Make sure you clearly understand the three component parts of any speech, and then work to accomplish a specific goal with each one. Pay attention to good thought content, and also your manner of presentation.

Janet Schlarbaum Public Speaking