Public Speaking Tips And TacticsPublic speaking: how to get promoted, earn more money and be successful...You will soon find that public speaking can be very satisfying. Apart from the ability to boost your career finances, once you pluck up the courage it is a source of self-actualization and of building both confidence and self-esteem. After maybe the second or third time I was asked to speak in public I began to enjoy it; being able to communicate ideas to a group or even influence that group is a powerful feeling. When people accept you and your ideas as a public speaker, it has a measurable impact on your feelings of achievement and as you build your public speaking confidence you can also measure the impact on your career finances.
If you want to advance your career and hence give your career finances a boost, you could do no better than by immediately brushing up your skills and volunteering to give a speech or lead a session in a seminar. Perhaps you have tried it before and didn't enjoy it? There are a number of simple techniques to help you which do not take too much to master. Try The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Speakers to see what I mean. Many people think that the greatest measure of success is discerned by how long you have been in your job or what level of qualifications you hold. However research has shown that people who give more speeches tend to command higher salaries than those who give fewer or no speeches. In some of the, lets say more 'practical' roles, such as engineer, the value of being able to give powerful presentations is often underestimated, yet notice how the one who can give a good speech, perhaps communicating some complex idea to laymen, is often the one who gets the promotion. In other jobs, say a client-facing role, you know you will have to give speeches so you better do what you can to be the best at them. Whatever your role in employment or even in life, there will be instances when you simply have to talk in public. If you have opinions of any kind, the day will come when you have to speak to defend them or inform others publicly. Now let me tell you three ways to overcome your nervousness at speaking publicly. Three Ways to Overcome Your Public Speaking FearsI am going to show you three specific ways, that I have used personally, to overcome your fears of speaking in public. They are quite easy, but first you need to believe that the fear and nervousness you are experiencing CAN be overcome.1. It is normal to be nervous and even fearful before getting up to speak in public. Most great actors feel nervous before going on stage; world class athletes are nervous before a big event so don't feel that you have to be fearless! If you can accept that your nerves are a normal response and not unusual in any way, then you start to release the tension and allow yourself to function effectively. Because fear is a normal physiological response that releases adrenaline into your bloodstream - preparing you for the fight or flight response - you can harness the help you are being given. Adrenaline heightens your responses and gives you the extra 'lift' to give of your best. 2. Work out where your fear comes from. With most people it is a fear of appearing foolish - nobody wants to look daft - so preparation is the key. Your self-esteem is a powerful mantle and you don't want to lower it by exposing yourself to laughter or ridicule. You may feel that the audience won't like you - in fact they are probably more supportive than you may think. You may be worried that the audience will not like your speech or value the content of what you have to say. Aim for approval from your audience and you will find yourself well pleased too; but never at the expense of compromising the truth of the message you deliver. 3. The audience knows nothing of your fears; audiences like this have seen many speakers before and are looking forward to hearing your speech. Because they are 'neutral' all you need to do is hide your nervousness and act the part of an accomplished speaker. Think about speakers YOU have seen before; how did they look and act. COPY THEM! Now bear in mind why you have been asked to speak; keep your material simple but to the point and focus on what you believe the audience needs to understand. Put their needs before yours and you will be assured of giving a great speech. These three ways to overcome your public speaking fears will soon have you saying "I enjoy giving a speech, and I'm actually good at it." When you are happy with these three ways to overcome your public speaking fears you can move on to Top 7 Steps and build your skills up to a higher level anytime you like. Also In This Section:Public Speaking | More Tips | Making A Speech | Interview Presentation Skills | Presentation Speaking | Speech Writing Skills | Public Speaking Humor | Training for Speaking | Visual Support Aids | People Management | Get PromotedLooking for something specific? An answer to an interview question? A CV or Resume layout? How to brush up your public speaking skills? Or some ideas of your options? Just enter your keyword in the search box below to find your answer on this site or anywhere else on the web. You will see some adverts that may be of interest since Google targets ads to your particular interests, but your results will be below that. Return to Your Career Change home page. Be sure to visit our Career Books Shop for extra reading and information. You can also search this site for more about career success, or the whole of the web from here.     
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