You undoubtedly feel frustrated as you work to enhance your public speaking abilities. Frustrated… by persistent anxieties. You are irritated by audience queries that give you trouble. Frustrated… by the skill-improvement process, which is more evolutive than revolutionary.
This post teaches us how to stop being frustrated by coming to love the process. Five speaking lessons are taken from an odd source.
How Does Public Speaking Fit into This?
The lessons that must be mastered are many of the same ones that public speakers must.
Now think about how these five relate to speaking:
- Improvement comes from practice.
- Even if you never intend to share it, keep a record.
- Accept the unpleasant.
- Push the boundaries.
First lesson: Practice makes perfect.
“Your improvements will typically be small steps. Other times, you will experience a huge leap in your ability to communicate. You cannot just read a book and expect to become a great speaker.
(Or this website!) Speaking abilities can only be enhanced via practice. At work, speak. Make a speech at your child’s school. address a town hall gathering. At your cousin’s wedding, speak. Speak while driving.
Describe your kitty. Talk to yourself in the mirror. There is no such thing as perfection. But you will get better. Your practice will lead to improvement over time.
Your improvements will typically be little steps. Other times, you will experience a huge leap in your ability to communicate.
Lesson 2: Keep records even if you do not intend to share them.
Even if you can keep a paper diary, it is usually simpler to retain an electronic record of your talks and PowerPoint presentations these days. Date them so you can reflect on them in the future and be amazed at how far you have come. Assess your progress and keep a record of the areas on which you are focusing.
Likewise, keep a video log. Individual films will not only point out areas that need work but comparing current recordings to earlier ones will be incredibly motivating. It is challenging to see your own development when you are immersed in the process. Video evidence is unreliable.
Lesson 3: Be comfortable with discomfort
“It’s challenging to notice your own improvement while you are immersed in the process. A video recording is unreliable.
Accept the pre-presentation butterflies in your stomach.
Accept that when the strain is on, your heart will race.
Recognize that you will occasionally forget a word, phrase, story, or joke.
Recognize that you will experience PowerPoint problems.
Recognize that not everyone in your audience is awestruck or even paying attention.
Accept all these things, but keep in mind that until you let them, none of them will stop you from communicating effectively.
Stretch Your Limits in Lesson Four
Motivational speeches frequently use the adage, “If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you’ve always had.”
If you approach each speech or presentation in the same manner, then… If your preparation is the same as mine, if you create PowerPoint presentations in the same manner… If you repeatedly employ the same speech opener… if you always address the group from behind the podium… if you always take speech notes in 12-point type…
Your skills will stagnate if you never try new things.
Look for chances to go outside your comfort zone by:
- The 1-hour keynote when you have only ever given the 10-minute teaser speech requires trying new vocal styles, including new stories, giving new gestures, adopting a modern style of visuals, finding a new source of quotations, looking for new audiences and new settings.
Lesson 5: Respect the Procedure
There is no peak in speaking ability; rather, it is a process that you go through for the rest of your life. It is understandable if you think the procedure is a chore you must go through before one-day mastering presentations to the highest level. However, that attitude will do nothing but undermine your efforts.
I adore the method. Set manageable objectives and recognize your successes. You will make a lot of blunders, so laugh them off. The reality is that there is no peak; rather, speaking ability improvement is a lifelong process. I adore the method.
