How to Become a Good Speaker

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How to become a good public speaker
Speaking collectively to audience large or small is public speaking. The first requisite for a good speaker is a good voice - neither too loud nor too low or inaudible, not harsh but sweet, and far-reaching. A good voice is sometimes God's gift. In some voices you will notice a quality which arrests and attracts you. But cultivated to the required quality. The next requirements for a good speaker are a good expressive face, no ugly expression on the face, no awkward gesture, no thumping of tables but a standing posture of dignity and grace. The physical appearance and gestures of the public speaker are very important because the members of the audience have too see as well as hear the speaker. It is the temptation of most speakers to rely on physical gestures to make a point. But on the whole my experience is that by manipulating the voice you do far more to make point than by any physical gesture. The length of a speech is a matter of great importance. An hour is long enough for a good public speech. The secret of success is the art of omission. A painter when he paint all the palm leaves. He paints just enough to create the impression of a full grown tree. You must leave your audience with a feeling that you should have spoken effectively before public audience you must always keep your hand on the pulse of the audience. Long before the audience gets tired or restless, you must stop. A successful public speaker's main object is always to rouse and retain the attention of his audience. It is not easy, but it comes with practice. Humour is a powerful tool. To make the audience laugh is the way to their hearts. Good anecdotes and stories are great aids to public speaking. Of course you must avoid becoming a bore, by telling stories only. But you can always makes a point by a short story or anecdote. Quotations are very useful in public speaking. But they are most apt when they come to you spontaneously. When you address public audience you must prepare your speeches in advance. The best preparation is to make a mental note of the points you want to make and plan how you propose to begin and close your speech. The whole speech must be a logical one closely argued and with the deliberate purpose of making the points you want to stress. The language of your speech is important. If you speak in English, you must use correct modern English and not use bombastic language. You must be understood by your audience easily and well.

The essential background of all pubic speaking is the audience. A public speaker should therefore make it a point to study his audience carefully. Whenever possible you should address an audience after some others have done. That will give you time to watch the audience and learn how it reacts to the speakers. Then you can adjust your speech to the audience. This may not always be possible. You may be the chairman or you may be selected as the first speaker. The safest rule in such cases is to assume that the audience is a normal and friendly one and start your speech. But you must watch your audience carefully, and id necessary adjust yourself to the audience. There are different kinds of audience. There is the friendly audience. It is comparatively easy to address. But, if you are a constant speaker before friendly audience, you may tend to repeat yourself and not take sufficient pains to prepare your speeches and try to convince and enthuse the audiences. You must avoid this danger. The there is the hostile audience. The bulk of the audience may be friendly to you; but few people may try to turn the audience hostile to you. Such elements may make short relevant comments on your remarks. If you have presence of mind you can always turn the table on these people. A sharp repartee especially if it is humorous will make the audience laugh at the interrupter and he will quieten down. But there is another set of deliberate interrupters who ask questions, not with a view to getting them answered but to interrupt the speaker for the purpose of disturbing the meeting. It is best to ignore them and refuse to answer the questions. If, however, you are making a speech, which the audience does not like really and therefore is hostile, you must be careful. You must then do your best, employ all the weapons in your armory of eloquence and try to convince the audience or make them realize that there is a good deal to be said from your point of view.

How to become a good speaker
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Part of presenting is delivering your talk; this is called speaking. Many presenters write great content, design excellent slides, but don¶t speak well. As a result, they don¶t get the results they want. They don¶t sell their product or service or they don¶t get approval for their project. Moreover, they are seen as ineffective. On the other hand, I¶ve seen presenters with good content and delivery, but awful slides, do quite well. Good speaking skills can overcome poor slides. (But good, visual slides can help a lot!)

Sym tom of not
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Rea ing the li e . This is a top annoyance for the audience and your slides shouldn¶t have much text on them anyway. People HATE it when you read the slides! Here¶s a typical comment:

³The presenter read, word for excruciating word, e ch and every slide. We were disengaged by a the second slide.´

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No interaction ith the au ience. The audience is the reason for the presentation, so they want to feel as if you¶re talking to them. If you pay no attention to them, not even

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meeting their gaze and not asking and answering questions, they feel ignored. What a turn off! Here¶s a comment from one audience member: ³I would guess that 95% of the presentations I¶ve witnessed over the last 5 years feature a speaker with his back to the audience o most of the presentation period. Go ahead and point ver your laser at the screen to make a point to the audience if necessary, but speak to the audience, and make some eye contact with them once in a while as well.´
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Poor eaking kill . By this I mean too many ³uhs´ and ³ums´ (a few are okay), poor grammar, rambling, interrupting a question from the audience, and more. As a presenter, you give an unprofessional impression if you don¶t have a certain amount of polish. As one person noted:

³Too much talking, reading from slides, and µya knows.¶ Plus there were 2 presenters who were talking over one another. Barbarism.´

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Lack of ractice. When you obviously don¶t know how to use the projector or PowerPoint, when you stumble because you don¶t know which slidewill come next, when your talk obviously could never fit within the time frame you are allotted, audience members know that you didn¶t practice. They interpret this to mean that you don¶t care much about them. Here¶s one experience:

³Slides had timing built into them and presenter became disoriented when the slides changed by themselves because of the timing.´

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The steps to becoming a good speaker are not hard although they require some time and attention. The rewards are great:
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You¶ll feel much le nervou . When you¶re well-prepared and have learned these steps, you¶ll feel more comfortable. Although some nervousness is normal, much of it comes from simply being unprepared.

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Related posts: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 12 steps to becoming a charismatic speaker What do you do hen you run out o time? For a pro essional image: Say good-bye to iller ords and hello to eye contact Ask the audience questions Base content on your audience
Public speaking is not a God's gift that some people are born with, it is an art one develops gradually and gets better and better over time. It is all about one's passion and an extreme determination to become a good pubic speaker. Preparedness, concentration and experience are the three buzz words of Public Speaking. Almost all famous public and motivational speakers were nervous when they hit stage first time in their life, but they acquired the art of good public speaking gradually.

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Following are 10 useful tips for giving an excellent presentation and becoming a good public speaker. 1. Prepare your content very well: This is truly the number on rule. You should be absolutely confident about what you are about to speak. Read repeatedly and understand thoroughly on whatever you are about to speak. Believe in your speech first before you want others to follow it. If the content of your speech is your strength most of your nervousness about facing the big crowd will automatically dive down.

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2. Practice: Rehearse and revise your speech out -loud. If you are going to use a mic, then do have a dummy mic with you. There is no reason to speak all of it in one go; pause, break, breathe and speak clearly. If you hit the stage with an intention of finishing your speech quickly and getting over with it, there is no way you can do a good job. See the president Barack Obama, he is one of the greatest public speaker of our times. His never in a hurry to finish his speech, instead he concentrates to a deliver speech with maximum impact. As far as possible do not read from notes , but if you think that you may forget the speech or miss out important points then in my opinion it is totally acceptable to carry a small paper containing bullet points of things you are about to speak. Visualize yourself giving your speech. 3. Body language: Do not be over stiff while delivering your speech. Body language plays a huge role on how effectively you can deliver content to others. Little hand movement and facial expressions can induce real life in your speech. Look around and be comfortable. Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. 4. Be yourself: Never try to copy style of others, it can only divert your mind away from your m ain speech. Although it is fine to take minor inspirations from other speakers, but always be yourself. What suits others may not suit you. There are no fixed rules in public speaking. Introducing a bit of subject related humour is the strongest part of pu blic speaking, it helps to keep audience entertained and interested in you. 5. Audition in front of your friends: If this is your first or second speech, it is a good idea to call a friend who is quite honest (neither a nagging nor a yes -yes friend). Take only those suggestions which you are comfortable with. Remain calm, appear relaxed, do not mumble. Speak loudly, confidently and clearly. 6. Know the audience: If you arrive before your audience then greet some of them, it helps to create a friendly bond and an easy going environment. If you arrive after the audience have arrived, take a chance to give a short introduction about yourself. Do not use heavy weight terms which your audience may find difficult to even understand. 7. Don't apologize: If you did a very minor error or are just feeling nervous, just keep moving along. There is a good chance the audience never noticed it. If you made an obvious error then correct it, and continue. 8. Equipment check: When using audio-visual equipment to enhance y our presentation, make sure that

everything is set up and in a good working order. 9. Do not try to reply a question which you are not sure. You can always tell "I believe I know the answer but let me confirm. Let me get back to you later (after the speech)." This will send a positive message to your audience that you are not there to just throw any crap at them. 10. Dress appropriately: Never underdress, wearing slightly more formal than others is recommended. Say some closing sentences and finally tha nk your audience and sit down. Article Source: http://www.saching.com
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Become a confident speaker
How to improve your English speaking skills, so that you can communicate more easily and effectively. These tips will help you to become a more confident speaker. Practice where you can, when you can. Any practice is good - whether you speak to someone who is a native English speaker or not. It's important to build your confidence. If possible, use simple sentence structure that you know is correct, so that you can concentrate on getting your message across. Try to experiment with the English you know. Apply words and phrases you know to new situations. Native English speakers are more likely to correct you if you use the wrong word than if you use the wrong grammar. Experimenting with vocabulary is a really good way of getting feedback. Try to respond to what people say to you. You can often get clues to what people think by looking at their body language. Respond to them in a natural way. Try not to translate into and from your own language. This takes too much time and will make you more hesitant. If you forget a word, do what native English speakers do all the time, and say things that 'fill' the conversation. This is better than remaining completely silent. Try using 'um', or 'er', if you forget the word. Don't speak too fast! It's important to use a natural rhythm in speaking English, but if you speak too fast it will be difficult for people to understand you.

Try to relax when you speak, and you'll find that your mouth does most of the pronunciation work for you. When you speak English at normal speed, you'll discover that many of the pronunciation rules, such as word linking, happen automatically. Final tips« - Try to become less hesitant and more confident. - Don't be shy to speak - the more you do it, the more confident you'll become. - Remember to be polite - use "please" and "thank you" if you ask someone to do something for you.
http://www.powerhomebiz.com/vol133/speaker.htm

How to Become a More Entertaining Speaker
If you look up the word entertaining in the dictionary you will find that it means amusing, interesting and pleasing. So, to become a more entertaining speaker you must become more amusing, interesting and pleasing to the audience you are addressing by Mike Moore Contributing Author

If you look up the word entertaining in the dictionary you will find that it means amusing, interesting and pleasing. So, to become a more entertaining speaker you must become more amusing, interesting and pleasing to the audience you are addressing. Here are a few practical suggestions to help you improve your entertainment quotient as a speaker.

1. Focus on the needs and wants of your audience. Remember that a bore is ME
deep in conversation. To avoid being boring be audience centred not ME centred. Speak in terms of their desire to be recognized, to belong, to feel important and to enjoy pleasure and laughter. People need attention. There is nothing more affirming than the undivided attention and appreciation of another. If you want your audience to give you there undivided attention give them yours.

2. Put a smile on your face the moment you enter the building and keep it there until you leave. I recall hearing a speaker who was very good when speaking but
before he began and the moment he finished his smile was nowhere to be seen. Be conscious of the importance of your smile in meeting the needs and wants of your audience.

3. Be enthusiastic about your life and your message. Enthusiasm is contagious

and does get attention. Ask yourself if you were a m ember of your audience would you be listening attentively to what you were saying?

4 Tell stories. A study was done at an American university to observe the factors that
impacted positively on student attention and their retention of course content. It was found that when the professor used humor and storytelling in a lecture retention of material and attention to what was being taught increased significantly. There is a good message here for us as speakers.

5. Laugh at yourself during your presentation. There is nothing people enjoy more
than hearing and seeing a speaker laughing at his/her weaknesses and human foibles. It gives the audience permission to laugh at themselves when they see their own shortcomings and weaknesses reflected in yours. It promotes a we re all in this together attitude. I tell a story about the time I had parked my car outside our local post office. I got out to find a beautiful middle aged woman on the step of the post office. I sucked in my stomach, smiled as I bounded up the st eps like a young gazelle and gave the woman an enthusiastic HELLO!! When I came out after doing my business she was still there so once again I gave her the time of day and got into my car looking and feeling quite suave. When I took out my keys and tried to insert them into the ignition they wouldn't fit. I looked in the rearview mirror only to see my automobile two cars behind me. In my exuberance to impress and look suave I had entered the wrong car. All I could do is get out, look at the object of my attention and say, "OOOPS WRONG CAR!" She just stood there looking very amused by my antics. Whenever I tell this story the audience roars and when I finish my presentation I usually have three or four people come up to share similar experiences with me. We are all in this together. If you don t laugh at yourself you leave the job to someone else.

6. Use your voice as an instrument. Show emotion, joy, intensity, amusement,
frustration with your voice. Whatever you do, don t be a monotonic speaker. They are deadly.

7. Have fun with your audience. Near the end of every presentation on humor and fun in
the workplace I provide a rhythm band experience for members of my audience. I usually select 8 willing people to participate in this musical experience. I give each member of the group a rhythm band instrument similar to the instruments we all remember from primary school. With the instrument comes a brief instruction on how to play it. I don t teach them too much as the fun comes from watching them become creative in playing their instrument. I play and sing a song on the guitar and my band goes wild. If you can t play the guitar don t worry about it. Just select a song from a CD and play it for the band to accompany. The song isn't that important but the fun is. I have had CEOs from large companies in the band having a great time. After the concert I have had members of the audience say I've never seen him/her like that before. They were actually having fun. Such is the liberating power of play.

8. Tell your audience stories. We all love to be told stories whether we are six or sixty
years old. In my audio CD How to Use Storytelling in Public Speaking I talk about the importance of storytelling and show you how to use them effectively in your presentations.. Stories amuse, inform, and entertain your audience so use them frequently.

9. Be yourself. Get rid of the masks you hide behind and let your audience see and enjoy the
real you.

10. Relax and enjoy the speaking experience. The audience is not your enemy. They
want you to be good so their needs can be met and their time investment can be rewarded.

These are the basic elements involved in being a more entertaining speaker. Take one at a time and try to incorporate it into your presentations. You will be pleased with the results.

How to Become a Good Speaker
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There are a ot of t ps o e o how to become a good speaker. Very o t en, these tips ill encourage you to be presentable, upbeat, they ill advise you to always plan and practice your speech, modulate your voice well, you've heard the spiel.

I'll set others aside or awhile and concentrate on the entertainment value o public speaking. After all, speakers are entertainers as well as motivators and informers but they can not achieve these goals if they fail to entertain the audience. To entertain is to amuse, to catch interest, or to please. An entertained audience is more receptive to any stimulus. Their minds are open and the audience will take anything the speaker has in store for them. Therefore, entertainment is an essential element in speech delivery.
What does t take to e terta e thus ast c? a crowd? Do yo have to be f y? Do yo have to be

There is no definite manner on how to become entertaining. There can be a lot of ways but I'll just give general pointers. These are not strict rules but rather universal guidelines that may give you a broader understanding about entertaining the audience in your speeches. ach speaker has his own style. xplore your own approach because ultimately, your personal methods are still the best.
Stor es are the a c e t art of e terta me t

verybody loves stories. No matter what age, ethnicity, or gender people with the capacity to hear and understand are fond of listening to stories. The audience wants to hear stories because they can relate and may find lessons from them. Stories, especially true ones, are greatly appreciated by the listeners. Humans are naturally gossip-hungry. We are instinctively wired to seek knowledge either from factual events or from products of fiction. This is why we love to watch news and movies on TV. In public speaking, you should tell stories relevant to the theme. Your stories should be filled with lessons and should teach the audience something valuable. True stories are the best in this situation. If your stories are not appropriate, you can embellish a little bit. After all, the goal here is to prove your points through entertaining and engaging stories. No one has to know if it is true or not.
Laugh at yourse f a d the aud e ce w augh w th you

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Laughing at yourself sets a mood of acceptance of our weaknesses and inadequacies. It will also relieve the tension in the air and will give the audience the consent to be candid. If they realize that the speaker in front of them is just as human as they are, the audience tends to trust and listen more. Have fun and be yourself If you pressure yourself to become the most entertaining speaker the audience has ever come to witness, you will never become one. ven though the goal is to inform and entertain, never forget to relax and be yourself. Your self-imposed pressures may go against you. Just have fun with it and be natural.
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Suggestions for Being a Good Speaker
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1. Be act ve ett g peop e k ow you are ava ab e to speak. O ce you have a date, e couage the group to pub c ze your program a d te peop e yourse f. I form oca ewspapers, rad o a d TV stat o s a d c ude format o about who you are aa d whe a d what group you trave ed w th. 2. Become fam ar w th your ow de om at o 's sta d o these ssues a d br g a copy (or cop es) of a y reso ut o s passed rece t y. You m ght wa t to become fam ar w th Chruches for M dd e East Peace (CMEP) mater a s s ce your de om at o probab y part c pates the orga zat o . (www.CMEP.org) 3. Do 't make the program a tour st tr p w th s des show g mo ume ts a d s tes. If you use s des, ustrate the ssues a d peop e. 4. Br g some ha douts such as maps, t me es, rece t Ema s or webs te pr touts. Put up a d sp ay. Br g a arge map to post as we . 5. Use you ow exper e ce as the bas s for your ta k. Te them to po ts you wa t to make. ots of stor es a d the re ate

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6. Focus o childre , wome , family etc., all of which helps huma ize the Palestinians. If you talk about terror, personalize the many Palestinian civilians killed by Israeli guns and bombs. Give credibility to Palestinian leaders and other prominent Palestinians. Elections haven't been held recently because of the occupation. 7. Avoid generalizing and putting words into people's mouths such as "Palestinians say..." "Israelis say..." Tell about what a specific person said to you. There are many different opinions among both Israelis and Palestinians. Don't allow members of your audience to dehumanize either side. 8. Use the correct vocabulary. Arabs are not all Muslims. Occupied territories are not disputer territories; illegal settlements imply that some settlements are legal. None are legal, etc. Settlements are not the same as kibbutzim. 9. Allow plenty of time for questions. This is the most fruitful time of all. 10. If you don't know the answer to a question, tell the person you will find out and follow up on that promise.
11. If you receive an honorarium and don't need the money, donate it to a peace movement or other appropriate cause. Let the group who gave you the honorarium know how you used it. You might interest them in giving more to that cause.

Pitfalls and problems
You will probably not be hissed or booed, but there are ways in which people can discredit you or cause you problems. 1. Watch out for allegations that move the discussion away from where you want it to go or irrelevant comments which cast aspersions on a person or group. Be sure to remind people of context and history. (People often want to begin questions with terrorism but you need to help them get behind and prior to today's events with the fact of the military occupation and without excusing suicide bombers.) 2. Be careful of deflection, such as referring to what other people in the world are doing or have done. "If you think that is bad, what about...?" Bring the conversation back to your topic. "We are talking about...." Especially don't allow Sadam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden to be used as a tie to Arafat. 3. Be aware of rhetorical questions. They often begin with "How can the Palestinians...?" or "Why do Palestinians...?" Behind each of them are many assumptions about what Palestinians are and do that need challenging. Instead of answering them, question them. "Where did you get that information?" "Where did you get the idea that...?" Reframe the question in other terms. 4. Distinguish between what you say about the country of Israel and Zionism (political issues) and what you say about Jews and Judaism (religion and ethnic group). Don't

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accept the charge of anti-Semitism unless you always accept charges people make against you or unless it is justified. (Anti-Semitism is not the same as anti-Zionism, no matter what a person might tell you.) Don't go on the defensive or offensive. 5. You are an expert on your own experience and no one else is. Just tell your story. "This is my experience. Maybe you had a different experience." 6. Avoid "tit for tat" discussions. People will come up with different information. You can always say, "This is how I experienced it and what I have read. Maybe you got your information from a different source. Where did you get that information from?" Do not weigh lives one against another but do not let statistics reflect only one side. All are human beings. This is a real balancing act. 7. Remember: You can't change history. All you can do is lie about it. Watch out for lies and myths. Our job is to challenge the myths and lies that have been put forth and to tell the truth as we see it and have experienced it.

Some suggestions for topics:
1. Living under the occupation, closure and curfew and living with the Wall. Define the terms and then tell a story about such things as permits and checkpoints; land confiscation, settlements and settlers roads; medical problems; educational problems; human rights, etc. At the end of each story point out the consequences and also the relevant international laws. 2. Use you itinerary as an outline and relate it to events since 1967. 3. Present questions you had as you started your trip and the answers you discovered. 4. How have you changed your mind and what are the events which changed it? 5. Base your speech around specific people and tell their stories. 6. Tell about the crisis for Christians in the Holy Land and the important role they have carried over the years. 7. Be sure you know as much as possible about the Separation Wall and the International Court of Justice advisory decision as well as the UN General Assembly vote. These are relatively recent developments. Keep yourself up-to-date.

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