Public Speaking Skills For Dummies

Alyson Connolly, BFA, MFA is a voice and public speaking coach who specializes in painless public speaking and overcoming perfor- mance anxiety. She is also a keynote speaker, having been a performer her whole life, starting out as a child actor, and has been a teacher of drama and theater for the past 30 years. www.alysonconnolly.com

• Introduction 1How This Book Is Organized 2Foolish Assumptions 3Icons 4Beyond the Book 4Where to Go from Here 4Part 1: Laying the Groundwork 7Chapter 1: Getting Started with Public Speaking 9Dealing with Issues That Stand in Your Way 10Fighting the fight, flight, or freeze response 10Affirming your worth with affirmations 11Creating reality with visualization 11Getting rid of tension 12Improving Your Body Language 12Gesturing 13Moving 14Making eye contact 14Adjusting Your Pace 15Perfecting the pause 15Supporting Your Breath 16Boosting Confidence through Preparation and Training 17Breathing (your own) life into speeches 18Planning out your speech 18Getting ready for the big day 19Eating right to feel good 20Honing Your Delivery 20Articulating 20Resonating 21Using the right tone 21Adding visuals 21Getting laughs 22Telling stories 23Dealing with the Audience 23Excelling in Interviews 24Mastering the Fine Art of Conversation 25Dropping the Ball and Still Managing to Score 26Wearing Clothes That Spell Success 26Chapter 2: Getting Your Brain in the Game 29Recognizing the Pitfalls of Negative Thoughts 30Saying no to negatives: Avoiding your triggers 31Perfecting perfectionism 32Nixing those niggling negatives 33Keeping the Brain’s Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response in Check 34Saying yes to adrenaline 34Stopping cortisol in its tracks 35Thinking like a caveperson 36Leveraging the power of neuroplasticity 37Adopting a Yes Let’s Attitude 38Knowing When to Say No 39Part 2: Diagnosing and Treating Common Afflictions 41Chapter 3: Overcoming Performance Anxiety 43Staying Loose: Tension Can Ruin a Speech 44Proper posture: Alignment isn’t just for cars 44Identifying the tension 47Releasing the tension 48Chin Up and Don’t Slouch 49Breathing as a sloucher 49Why feeling bad ends up sounding bad 50Using Your Body to Battle the Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response 53Chapter 4: Curing Common Vocal Problems 57Vanquishing Vocal Fry 58Recognizing vocal fry and its causes 58Seeing why vocal fry is perceived negatively 59Undoing Upspeak 60Knowing why we upspeak 61Decomissioning Devoicing 62Recognizing devoicing 62If you’re a natural devoicer 63Battling Breathiness 64How breathing works 65What breathiness does to credibility 66Negating Nasal Voice 66Preventing the Push: Speaking Evenly 67Disconnecting your thoughts and feelings 68Wingin’ it 68Stopping Stuttering 69Breathing to alleviate stuttering 70Rolling with word flubs 70Denying the Drop 71Chapter 5: Conquering Impostor Syndrome: You Are Who You Think You Are 73Feeling Like a Phony 74Diagnosing yourself 74Critiquing the criticism 75Understanding Why It Happens 76Feeling a failure onstage and off 77Lucking into success 78Being Yourself 79Part 3: Preparing Your Speech and Training Yourself 83Chapter 6: Crafting a Captivating Speech 85Planning and Preparing 86What’s Your Point? 86Hooking Your Audience 87Supporting Your Point: The PIE Method 90Point 91Illustration 92Explanation 93So what? 93Conclusion: Ending with a bang 94Writing in Your Own Voice 95Keeping it simple 96Writing and reading out loud 97Show, Don’t Tell 98Painting a picture in the audience’s mind 98Crafting Your Narrative: Story Time 99You’re the boss: Acting like a protagonist 100Telling the story of your business 101Getting real: Enhancing your story 102Chapter 7: Using Visual Aids 107A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words 109Knowing when a picture works and when it doesn’t 110Cropping pictures to fit ideas 111Considering color 111Mastering Essential Slide Show Skills 113The Do’s and Don’ts of Audio 116Don’t let music play for a long time 117Don’t play music too loud or soft 117Don’t play music during your whole presentation 117Do have a sound check in the space prior to your speech 118Do check your equipment 118Using Video If You Must 119Using Other Visual Aids 120Properly using props 120Going old school with flip charts 121Chapter 8: Being Funny (or Trying To) 123Getting Personal: Revealing Who You Really Are 124Writing Stories and Jokes 125Questions to help you prep 126Figuring out your own sense of humor 127Breaking It Down: Elements of Humor 128The rule of three 129The importance of practice 129The power of the pause 130The charm of self-deprecating humor and laughing at yourself 131The value of acting it out 132The art of modesty 132The dreaded cringe and how to avoid it 134Loosening up the audience 135Enjoy yourself and don’t take it too seriously 135Chapter 9: Practicing Your Speech 139Practicing Out Loud 140Hear yourself 141Stand up 141Prepare those props 142Power up those slides 142Find an empty room 143Time yourself 143Get someone to watch you 144Recording and Critiquing Yourself 145Take video of yourself presenting 145Record your voice 146Work on your face and nonverbals 147Mark My Words: Adjusting Your Script for Emphasis 148Slowing Down: Speed Kills 150Cutting your speech when your time is cut 150Resisting the urge to rush 151Making the most of tactical pauses 152Avoiding filler words: Ums and ahs 153Speaking, not reading 154Breathing just enough 156Chapter 10: Becoming a Vocal Athlete 159Understanding the Importance of Nutrition 160Cutting down on refined sugar 160Cutting back on carbs 161Refraining from alcohol before speaking 162Hydrating with water 162Chilling out with the coffee 163Dialing down the dairy 163Properly using protein 164Making Sure You’re Fed 164Getting Some Exercise 166Making your heart go thump 166Increasing your lung capacity 168Part 4: Fine-Tuning Your Delivery 171Chapter 11: Prepping Your Mind for Public Speaking 173Learning to Visualize Positively 174Visualizing opportunity 174Building Self-Confidence 176Becoming happier through gratitude 176Engaging in positive self-talk 178Cutting Yourself Some Slack 180Shifting Your Focus to the Audience 182Beginning with the end in mind 183What is the audience expecting to learn? 183What are your audience’s demographics? 184What level of knowledge on the topic does the audience have? 185How big is the audience? 185Why is the topic important to the audience? 186Going one-on-one: Addressing one person in the audience 186Knowing when not to apologize 187Handling hecklers 189Chapter 12: Mastering the ABCs of Articulation 191Meet the Articulators 192The jaw 192The tongue 194The soft and hard palates 195The lips 196Understanding Mumbling and Why People Do It 197Honing Your Articulation 199Twisting your tongue 199Voicing vowels and consonants 199Singing 204Improving Clarity for an Accent 204Slowing down 205Staying positive 205Chapter 13: Good Vibrations: Resonance 207Getting to Know Your Resonators 207Why We Study Resonance 208Putting Your Whole Body into It 209Knowing your resonant voice 209The throat 211Opening up the nasal cavities 214Exploring oral resonance 215Releasing your jaw 216Opening up your chest resonance 217Part 5: Enhancing Your Speech 221Chapter 14: Breath, Tone, and Pitch 223Breathe, Breathe, Breathe 224Supporting your breath 224Adding volume for a bigger space 227Changing poor breathing habits 228Does breathing make you look fat? 230Just breathe 230Improving Your Tone 231Expressing meaning and emotion through tone 232Using a conversational tone 233Harnessing the Power of Pitch 235Chapter 15: Getting Body Language into the Act 237Becoming a Poser (in a Good Way) 238Adjusting your stance 238Facial expressions 239Making eye contact 241Tuning In to Audience Perception 242Looking and feeling genuine 243Owning the room .244Moving with a Purpose 245When should you move? 246Sitting during a presentation 248Hand Jive: Gesturing with Your Hands 249Dressing for the Occasion 252Wearing appropriate clothing for your event 252Suiting yourself: Clothing for men 254Style and comfort: Clothing for women 255Patterning the patterns 255Wearing makeup 255Sporting tattoos 256If the shoe fits 256Avoiding wardrobe malfunctions 257Tying back your hair 257Taking it easy with the jewelry 258Doing your nails 258Chapter 16: Ready, Set, Go! 259’Twas the Night Before 260Getting Familiar with the Space 262Scoping out the joint 263Warming up in the space 264Eating for Success 265Sleeping to Refresh 266It’s Show Time! 266Minding your mind 267Visualizing using imagery 267Breathing 268Making the most of the microphone 269Connecting to your audience even before you’ve met them 270Part 6: It’s Show Time: Plying Your Trade 273Chapter 17: Acing the Interview 275Becoming an Expert on You 276Becoming an Expert on the Industry and Organization 278Checking Out the Interviewers 280Using Body Language in the Interview 280Avoiding the don’ts of interviews 281Practicing the do’s of interviews 282Public Speaking: The Interview Edition 282Getting the questions in advance 283Revealing what you intend to do 283Faking it till you’re making it 284Using your words positively 285Looking like you already work there 286Convincing yourself you already have the job 286Competing factors 287Mastering the Q&A session 288Remembering that you are the expert 288Admitting you don’t know the answer 288Being vulnerable 289Chatting like a Champ: Phone Interviews 290Phone interview don’ts 290Phone interview do’s 290Warming up for your interview 291Greeting the greeter 292Winding things up 293Chapter 18: Engaging in Witty Repartee 295Minding Your Manners 297Shaking hands 299Staying Engaged in the Conversation 300Remembering names 301Adopting open body language 303Letting go of your fears 304Composing Your Elevator Pitch 304Chapter 19: If at First You Don’t Succeed 307Everyone Wants You to Succeed 307The show must go on 309Practicing what could go wrong 310Making lemonade out of lemons 311Rolling with the Punches 311Double booking 312Shooting yourself in the foot 312Never having to say you’re sorry (when you’re up there speaking) 313Chilling out: No one knows you messed up 313Owning obstacles 314Getting Better at Improvising 315Improving your improv muscles 315Practicing improvising about your subject 316Adjusting your timing 317Part 7: The Part of Tens 319Chapter 20: Ten (or So) Tips for Stage Fright 321Accept Your Fear 321Practice, Practice, Practice 322Breathe Slowly and Deeply 323Use Progressive Relaxation 325Be Up and Out, Not Down and In 326Move Your Hands 326Get Positive — Yes Let’s 327Roll with Mistakes 328Repeat an Affirmation in Your Head 328Focus on an Engaged Audience Member 328Slow Down 329Chapter 21: Ten Ways to Improve Your Delivery 331Analyze Your Script 331Personalize Your Speech 333Emphasize Key Words 333Change Up Your Pitch, Tone, and Word Duration 334Breathe! 335Slow Down Your Pace 335Land Your Thoughts 336Use the Power of the Pause 337Record Your Presentation 337Video yourself 337Record your voice 338Ask a Friend or Colleague to Watch and Listen 338Chapter 22: Ten Tips for Preparing to Speak 341Warm Up Your Body and Your Voice 341Get physical 342Get aligned 342Breathe 343Adopt a Power Pose for at Least Two Minutes 343Practice Your Speech While Doing an Unrelated Task 344Eat Healthy, Drink Water 344Visualize a Successful Presentation 345Recite Your Speech Dressed in Your Presentation Clothes 346Arrange Your Notes and Visuals 347Bring Water 347Arrive Early 347Introduce Yourself 348Index 349