Why do we have such a strong fear of speaking in public? I think we have a better chance of answering this question if we understand what drives our fear.

In this video I use a beam analogy to help you understand the dynamics at play when speaking anxiety takes hold on us. It is not unlike having a fear of heights. So if we understand one we understand the other.

This analogy helps you determine is the fear of speaking worth the risk of actually doing it. The risk you face is that your anxiety will manifest itself in some strange and bazar way. I have been learning, training and coaching public speaking for over 20 years and I have never seen anyone die from public speaking and I have never seen anyone faint. So determine what is the worse that can happen to you. Accept and get on with doing it.

Regardless of how much anxiety you have, the reality is that to get past it you have to get up and speak. No one else can do it for you.

For those that decide yes, the journey to managing their speaking anxiety is well underway.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

The Book of Lists has identified, on a couple occasions, that the fear of speaking outranks the fear of death by as much as 2 to 1. So it should be no great surprise that a lot of people are anxious about public speaking.

In this post I share a snippet of my personal journey. About 25 years ago I was working as a Sales Representative with a large Computer Sales company. I was required to give presentations to executive teams and corporate boards 1-2 times a week. Every time I got up to speak I would get a knot in my stomach and it didn’t go away until I sat down. I was so uncomfortable with the public speaking aspect of my job that I left the company.

Despite my anxiety I was successful at my job. I made my quota in the first year, was named Rookie of the Year, and my wife and I were sent on an all expenses paid trip to Vancouver for a week. I was good at my job but I was not happy at my job.

I took a job with the local telephone company. A couple of months later my new manager invited me to attend a Toastmasters meeting. That was the beginning of my journey to manage my speaking anxiety.

Through Toastmasters I learned that there was much more to public speaking than spitting out words then sitting down. There are so many things to consider; eye contact, vocal variety, gestures & body language, facial expression and so much more.

I went through the entire Toastmasters program and attained their highest designation, DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster.

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to own my own business. I realized one of my biggest dreams, having my own business, by overcoming one of my biggest fears, speaking in public. I find it ironic that the business is as a professional speaker and I get to help others fast-track their journey. How cool is that?

Never think that you can’t do it. It’s in you to do it!

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

An important consideration for any speaker or presenter is to stay true to their time allocation. Whether the time allocation is set by you or an event organizer you must ensure that you honour that timing. If you finish too early your audience may perceive you as being ill prepared and not living up to their expectations. We didn’t have enough material to fill the full time slot.

If you finish late the impacts can be even greater. When we go over on our time we run the risk of losing their full attention at a critical part of your speech or presentation; the close. When we go over the audience begins to focus on the time and not the message. The longer we go over the more intense the focus on time will be.

Knowing our material well and having a good sense of timing are key to successful speeches and presentations. If you have a choice between finishing a couple of minutes early or a couple of minutes late it is better to finish a couple of minutes early.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

It is that time of year again where we should make sure that we take time to reflect on what we want to accomplish in the coming year. This post is not about New Year’s resolutions. I am not a fan of resolutions. I am a fan of setting realistic goals for the things we want to achieve. What do you want to achieve in 2013.

It has been proven over and over again that individuals who document their goals have a much greater chance of achieving them. So write your goals down and refer to them daily so that they stay top of mind. This will keep them visible. However you have to take steps to act on them. What is your plan for achieving them? Are you giving them the priority they require?

Goals without actionable plans are merely dreams.

Happy New Year everyone. May 2013 be your best year yet!

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

A few years ago I had the privilege to attend a workshop conducted by Sam Horn at the CAPS (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers) in Toronto. During the workshop Sam talked about a concept she called “Ink It When You Think It”. This concept really resonated with me because I had, on many occasions, heard or seen a quote, an idea, an image, a book title, etc that caught my attention. However when I tried to remember them, even a short time later, they were gone from my memory. So the idea of writing it down as soon as possible really appealed to me. However, I didn’t have a solution for how I would do that.

Five months later our CAPS President, David Gouthro, did a workshop for CAPS Atlantic Chapter. One of things he provided was a small notebook that fit perfectly into my shirt pocket. I now had a way to ‘ink when it when I thought it’. I now have several of these note books and I have captured hundreds of ideas. I usually transfer them to my computer on a monthly basis.

Taking the concept of “Ink it when you think it” and pairing it with a tool, the small note book, created a powerful tool that can be beneficial to any speaker.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

I have a definition of communication that I use in all my public speaking training. There are multiple definitions that I could use. I chose this one. It gets everybody on the same understanding of what oral communication is. The definition is:

Communication is the giving and receiving of information, ideas and attitudes.

Most people will pick up on the fact that it is a giving and receiving process and most will acknowledge that we exchange ideas and information. Many will miss the fact that we also exchange attitudes when we communicate. We do that through our nonverbal message. Through our facial expression, body language, and our gestures. We also do it tone of voice. So it is important that we ensure that these are in synch with our message.

While we acknowledge that communication is a giving and receiving process most of us don’t put enough emphasis on the receiving portion. This is particularly true when we are speaking to a group of people. Depending on the size, most audiences will communicate solely by nonverbal. In these situations we have to condition ourselves to listen with our eyes in order to get the messages they are sending.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

If you speak publicly you will inevitably make a mistake or experience a blooper. If it hasn’t happened yet, it will. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be a show stopper if dealt with properly.

I get some of my best material and content when I make a mistake. I have learned, with time, not to react negatively to these. Instead I embrace them as an opportunity to show my personality. They are frequently a good source of spontaneous humour. I don’t do them on purpose and I don’t look for mistakes to happen. This make my response to them that much more genuine and effective.

The next time you experience a mistake or blooper don’t react negatively to it. Use it as an opportunity enhance your unique style.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

There are many situations where you might be required to formally introduce another person. It could be an association function, a family wedding, or a workplace activity.

I have witnessed many variations of introductions. Some very short with little or no information to the other extreme where there is too much information. The introduction should only be about a minute and should highlight aspects about the speaker that are relevant to the function and the audience.

I recommend letting the speaker know what you plan to say in your introduction. That way there are no surprises. The speaker may want to make some changes. Many speaker will provide their own introductions. If they do and they are longer than you feel is appropriate don’t be shy about cutting out aspects that aren’t relevant to the function. It is still good practice to let the speaker know what you have removed and why.

A well thought out and prepared introduction can make you look very professional.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

Delivering a toast for a business or corporate event is different from delivering a toast at a wedding.

The toast should be no longer than 2-3 minutes. Most are less than 2 minutes.

The toast is like a mini speech. It has an opening, body and close. In the opening the person delivering the toast stands with a glass of refreshment in hand, invite the audience to join you. ‘Please stand.’

Once they have stood you share 2-3 points about the reason for the toast. Let’s assume the company has received an award. You can identify what the award is and why the company was chosen. This shouldn’t be long winded.

The close is where the toast is actually delivered. Please join me in acknowledging this company milestone. Congratulations Company ABC on your recent award. Have a sip from the class. This would signal for your audience to do the same. Then ask them to ‘please be seated’.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.

In this video I explore the Communication Model. I created this model to help explain what is happening when we communicate face to face. The model applies to all face to face communication, one on one or one on a thousand. It consists of 5 components.

The first 4 items are the cornerstones of oral communication. In a perfect world this would be all there is. however that is not the case. There is a fifth component that comes into play and it can have a dramatic impact on the communication process. That factor is ‘noise’. Noise consists of anything that can negatively impact the communication. It could be real noise such as jack hammers or it could be environmental such as room temperate, too hot or too cold. It could be attitudes of the individuals involved in the communication. It could be poor room layout The list can be endless.

Other less obvious noise factors could be distractions. ie a piece of food in your teeth, a zipper down. It can be anything that will take the audience’ attention off the message.

In their extreme these noise factors can be very difficult for the speaker or presenter. So the more equipped you are to recognize noise factors the more capable you will be at handling them. I call this ‘managing the noise’.

Now go out and Make Your Voice Heard!

Want to learn the 5 Tools (you already have) to become a confident, engaging and effective speaker? Click the link for FREE video training. The Speaker’s Tool Box

I would love to hear your thoughts on this. Leave me a comment or suggest a topic for a future blog.