I delivered a presentation today to the Stockport Chamber of Commerce Breakfast club on how to overcome the effect of nerves when public speaking.  I included some tips to improve your public speaking perfomance.

I recommend joining a Toastmaster International Club to develop your confidence to deliver a great speaking performance.   Clubs are listed on the UK district website under http//D71.org.  Clubs local to the Manchester area have their own websites and these are:

Warrington Toastmasters www.warringtonspeakers.org.uk

Salford Speakers www.salfordspeakers.org.uk

Didsbury Speakers www.didsburyspeakers.org.uk

Manchester Orators. www.orators.org.uk

An extract from my speech is included below.

The word FEAR is an acronym. False Expectation Appearing Real.

When we have an expectation that we will be rejected or ridiculed, the survival mechanism of fear kicks in.

To better manage the impact of our public speaking fear, here are 3 steps.

1. Logic.

2. Breathing,

3. Practice.

Logic.

Write down what your real fear is. Fear of being laughed at if I make a mistake. Then do a logical risk analysis of the situation.

1. When I’m in the audience am I waiting to ridicule the speaker’s mistakes?

2. When I am in the audience, do I want the speaker to do well?

3. When previous speakers have made a mistake, did the audience ridicule them?

4. So why is it, when you are presenting, the audience is bound to be salivating at the prospect of savaging you if you slip up?

It is much more logical to assume the audience will be supportive, empathetic and engaged.

By using logic we can diminish the impact of our fear. We may however still feel nervous.

Breathing.

When your heart is pumping and your mouth feels dry, hands feel sweaty, you are getting ready to run. Adrenaline is being produced and this may cloud your thinking. The way to manage this physical reaction is to breathe deeply for a few minutes before you stand up to speak. Also, breathe properly and deeply during your speech. Use pauses to take in air. Include breathing properly in your speech practice sessions. Deep breathing will calm the system down.

Practice.

Many people place their emphasis on learning the words of their presentation. When you practice your presentation include rehearsing your posture, stand tall, open the diaphragm, breath deeply and maintain a steady pace.

Create some mechanism to prompt you if you forget what you want to say. Cue cards with headings, or slides with bullet points.

Get some practice speaking in front of an audience. Join Toastmasters.

Once you have your nerves under control, what can you do to enhance your public speaking performance?

Content.

Give your content some structure.

It helps to give your audience an idea about where you speech will be going. Having a logical structure and signalling the transitions in your speech will help the audience follow you. A short speech needs a beginning, middle and end. The beginning should give the audience a taste of what is to come. It could be a quote, a provocative statement, or simply an outline of the speech. The middle is the main body of the speech. This is where you will put your main content, your evidence, and your opinions. The end can be a question, a concluding statement, or summary and may reference the opening remarks.

For longer speeches the main body of the speech may need it’s own structure. Break the content down into digestible chunks and let the audience know when you are moving from one area to another.

With a sound structure the audience has a map to follow.

Vocal Variety provides more interest on the journey.

Imagine a piece of music where every note was the same pitch, the same volume and same duration. We wouldn’t listen to that for long. When speaking the same applies.

Use the voice effectively by varying the volume, introduce changes of pace, and vary the pitch.

Volume adds dramatic effect. Quietly spoken sentences create interest and intrigue, loudly spoken passages signal passion and emphasis.

Pace should vary. Speeding up gives a sense of urgency, slowing down adds a sense of significance.

Pauses provide people in the audience with time to absorb what has been said and integrate it into their own understanding.

People who are nervous tend to speak far too quickly and fill every second with sound. Filler words such as er, um, ok, you know, and so on.

Varying the pitch of the voice keeps the audience interested. Bring your sentences alive by varying the pitch.

Body language.

If you are on a stage, make sure you can move around freely. Use the space to connect to the audience. One way to use the space is to emphasise temporal references. For instance if I was talking about what used to happen, what happens now, and what will happen in the future. I start on your left. Then I’ll move to the centre, and then your right.

Arms and hands.

Some people wave them about, others clamp them together in a vice like death grip. Relaxing your arms when you feel nervous is not easy and it takes practice. Remember, small gestures are fine for conversations with small groups. The larger the group, the more expansive the gesture. Use gestures to emphasise the message.

Eye contact.

Speak to people, make connections, look at your audience. When making a point, focus on a person, or group of people in the audience. Then move on to take in the wider audience, then talk to another group or person. Ensure your eyes meet people at the extremes of the room as well as those close to you.

As a member of Didsbury Speakers, a chartered club of Toastmasters International, I represented my club at the area speaking contest yesterday.  I entered 2 categories, the first being a prepared speech in the “humorously speaking” section, and the second the impromptu speaking category.

The contest was held in the Star and Garter gig room in Manchester, which is a grade 2 listed building.  The pub is 132 years old and has all it’s original character.  It is normally used to showcase up and coming bands and as a student club scene.  The contestants in the speaking contest used the stage, surrounded by large amplifiers and stage equipment.

In the humorously speaking contest I came 3rd.  My entry into the impromptu speaking category was a last minute decision so I was very surprised to come first!  I now go through to the Division finals which are in Glasgow on 25th October.

I’ve volunteered to be President of a new public speaking club called Didsbury Speakers. The club is a chartered member of Toastmaster International and I’m working hard with my local committee to build up our membership this year.

The Toastmaster programme is a fantastic way to develop better presentation and public speaking skills. Everyone in the club learns by “doing it”. Every speaker at each meeting is evaluated and given verbal and written feedback. We meet every 1st and 3rd Wednesday in the month. Find out more at Didsbury Speakers Website

I recently attended a one day meditation workshop.  I have practiced meditation on and off over time and I wanted to kick start the discipline to meditate regularly.  I visited Vairochana Buddhist Meditation Centre in Chorlton, Manchester.  The first meditation session of the day was preceded by a discourse on happiness.  This was intriguing.  The lady taking the session, Joy, put forward a Buddhist theory that it is our thoughts that determine whether or not we are happy, and that by controlling our thoughts we can achieve ongoing happiness.

The purpose of meditation therefore is to gain control of our thoughts and use this control to be happy.

The first meditation was a breathing meditation where you focus on the sensation of the air on the nostrils as we breathe in and out.  Any thoughts that pop up are allowed to pass and in theory we should not follow the thoughts.  Well; my head was full of thoughts, every few fractions of a second another random thought popped up.  In fact, this is going on all the time!   It’s little wonder that relaxation is difficult to achieve with all this activity.  I’m definitely going to practice meditation more and who knows, I may get a few seconds peace!

According to a number of surveys about fear, one of the most feared activities for people is public speaking.  In fact it often scores higher than dying on the list of things we fear!

In everyday business life there are many opportunities for the developing leader or manager to “speak to an audience”.  Presentation skills courses often feature on the development plans of aspiring leaders.  Rather than spend hundreds of pounds bringing in presentation skills trainers, a far more effective and indeed cheaper method exists.

Throughout the country there are public speaking clubs.  I belong to a Toastmaster International club in Manchester.  Toastmaster International founded the ideal of public speaking clubs in the States.  Here’s how they work.

For a modest fee, each member receives a joining pack which contains among other things, two manuals, through which they will develop their speaking and leadership skills.  The speaking side of the development is contained within a “Competent Communicator” manual.  The manual contains 10 speaking projects, each one developing a particular aspect of public speaking.  For example, there is a project on organising a speech, then others on using body language, vocal variety, statistics and more.  Each member produces a speech of 5-7 minutes and at each meeting there is a slot of time for members to deliver their speeches.  Each speaker is allocated an evaluator who gives both written and a verbal presentation of the speakers strong points and areas for improvement.  The manual is constructed to build a portfolio of speaking skills.

The other manual is the Competent Leader manual.  The club has a number of roles at each meeting, from running the meeting, to timekeeping and evaluating.  Club members volunteer for these roles which all have a speaking element to them.

The Toastmaster clubs provide an encouraging and safe environment to develop your public speaking and organising skills.  They meet two evenings per month.  There are many more facets to the clubs including regional and international speaking competitions.  So you can take your speaking as far as you like!

For more information, look up Toastmasters International on the website and for the two Manchester area clubs go to:

Manchester Orators

Didsbury Speakers