Unlock your Public Speaking Potential
By Antony Zogg, ACS, B.Com, MIM
Copyright 2012 Antony Zogg,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-1-4566-0833-0
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
1. Acknowledgements
Over the past 10 years, I have been on a fascinating journey to overcome my intense fear of public speaking. I have had the privilege of being able to observe and evaluate people who have public speaking skills that range from absolute beginner through to advanced levels. Likewise, my speeches have been observed and evaluated by a range of speakers from entry level to accomplished, and by audiences of people from a wide variety of backgrounds, professions and cultures. I have participated and judged in public speaking contests at club, area and regional levels in New Zealand. I am currently a judge for the prestigious Cyril Basset, New Zealand Secondary Schools Public Speaking championships. I have attended conferences and conventions run by public speaking organizations and attended educational sessions designed to hone a person’s public speaking skills. Over the past decade I have assessed keynote speakers at the numerous business conferences I have attended for their overall effectiveness as speakers, and noted what they did well and where they could have improved. I have also read numerous articles on public speaking online, and in the newsletters of public speaking organizations such as National Speakers and Toastmasters that I have belonged to over the years. There was an awful lot of myth and junk that I had to filter out, but what I did notice was that certain tools and methodologies claiming to be effective in calming those public speaking nerves kept popping up in different publications and in the public speaking evaluations I received from fellow club members. It is impossible to attribute any one idea to a specific person or publication, so I acknowledge everybody who has contributed to the public speaking knowledge database internationally.
I then took what I learned and experimented with those ideas. I kept what worked and discarded what didn’t. It is this public speaking knowledge and my own experimentation over 10 years that helped me to overcome my fear of public speaking. This knowledge inspired me to write this e-book on what I found to be particularly useful in my public speaking experience and to add in what I hope will be a number of very useful tips of my own. Ideally when you read this e-book and as you apply what you have learned in it to your own public speaking experience, your public speaking and confidence should improve as you practice.
I acknowledge the Late Colin Perfect, my role model and mentor who accomplished more for public speaking in New Zealand than anybody else that I know. A great Toastmaster, Colin was a wonderful friend who encouraged me in those moments when I felt like giving up.
2. Introduction
Isn’t it amazing how we get conditioned by friends, parents, teachers, colleagues and others into believing that public speaking and presenting is something to fear and avoid. 10 years ago I was terrified at the prospect of speaking in public. My fear was so intense and debilitating that I would feel exhausted and ill after having made a speech. What’s more my struggle to overcome my fear seemed to be never ending. On several occasions during my public speaking journey I despaired and wondered if I would ever beat my fear. To make matters worse, I had a number of public speaking disasters under my belt and reflecting on those experiences only served to reinforce my belief that public speaking was a hugely painful process. However, as we progress through life we get married; a family member has a significant birthday; our parents have a milestone wedding anniversary celebration; we manage staff at work; we manage projects and stakeholders; sell products and services; persuade clients, or become the president of our local community club. These activities and roles, among countless others in life, require us to make speeches and presentations.
So, no matter how much we fear public speaking – it is part of everyday life whether or not we like it, so we may as well learn how to master it.
The good news is that public speaking is a skill that is very easy to master and heaps of fun provided you follow some basic techniques and practice speaking in public as often as you can.
After being a member of a public speaking club for a year, my speaking abilities had improved significantly through practice, but my fear of public speaking seemed to be getting worse. Determined to overcome my fear, I read extensively on the topic, and took on more and more public speaking roles at my public speaking clubs, at work and anywhere else I could find a willing audience. There is so much information out there and I had to wade through it all – the good, the bad, the myth, and the facts. It was very time consuming to carry out all of that research – in fact it took me 10 years to accomplish. It’s really about finding and trying out new techniques yourself. If something works, use it again, but if it doesn’t, dump it and experiment with something else. This e-book draws on the techniques and tools that have helped me become a more confident and effective speaker and could save you an awful lot of time and energy as you develop your public speaking skills and begin conquering your fear.
When I look back on my public speaking journey, I cannot say exactly when the turning point came for me. However, during the past few years, I overcame my fear of public speaking and began really enjoying the experience a lot. It became a fun thing for me to do, and nowadays I look for any opportunity to speak in public. I actively seek out and work in jobs that require effective presentation and public speaking skills. I delivered many technical IT presentations as part of my postgraduate degree in Information Management, have made numerous wedding speeches; special birthday speeches; been master of ceremonies at a number of functions; spoken to community groups; up to 50 public speaking club meetings a year; work functions; chaired meetings and delivered business presentations both face-to-face and by webinar. I also know how to channel any residual fear into positive energy while speaking in public.
I would like to share some of these ideas with you in this e-book as you aspire to unlock your true potential as a public speaker and learn to speak effectively with more confidence, and to save you a lot of time in the process. How well you succeed is dependent on you, your commitment to learn this new skill and to practice often as you can.
By way of encouragement the vast majority of people I have encountered in public speaking circles (even those who were so nervous they were reluctant to stand up in public and introduce themselves) have gone on to become highly effective speakers. The contents of this e-book will certainly help you, as will regular public speaking practice and the opportunity of having your speeches evaluated by others. That is why I always tell the people I coach: “You have the potential to be an amazing public speaker – unlock that potential now and you may be amazed by the heights you can achieve”. I can say this because in my experience, people who have a public speaking goal and are prepared to put in the time and effort to achieve their public speaking goals, usually succeed, and at times beyond their wildest imaginings. To all of you reading this book, this statement applies equally to you: “You have the potential to be an effective public speaker, so decide now that you are going to unlock your potential”. Once you make that choice, you have the resources at your disposal to begin working on improving your public speaking skills right away. The best place for you to start is to read this e-book and then set some public speaking goals for yourself.
3. Setting your public speaking goals
I strongly believe that if you are serious about achieving anything worthwhile in life (including becoming an effective public speaker) it is vital to set goals for yourself and to formulate a plan of action. If your goals and your plans for achieving them are written down, you can refer back to your plan periodically to check