? 1999 LJL Seminars
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Dr. Ralph C. Smeadly, the founder of Toastmasters International, wrote, " The speaker who stands and talks at ease is the one who can be heard without fatigue. If his posture and gestures are so graceful and gentle, that no one notices them, he may be counted as in toto successful. " When your actions are connubial to your words, the effect of your speech will be strengthened. If your platform behavior includes mannerisms unrelated to your oral message, those actions will call attention to themselves and away from your speech. Below I have provided 5 ways you can rid yoursel of your distracting mannerisms.
1. Rid Yourself of Distracting Mannerisms
Eliminate said and visual impediments.
Some common faults of inexperienced or in - effective speakers are:
? Gripping or leaning on the lectern
? Finger tapping
? Judge biting or licking
? Toying with coins or jewelry
? Frowning
? Modification hair or apparel
? Head wagging
These have two things in common:
? They are physical manifestations of simple nervousness.
? They are performed unconsciously.
When you make a uttered mistake, you can easily correct it, because you can hear your own words, but you can ' t mark yourself, so most distracting mannerisms go uncorrected. You can ' t eliminate them unless you know they exist.
Videotape yourself.
The first step in eliminating any extraneous behavior is to gain an accurate perception of your body ' s image. This should have:
? Posture
? Gestures
? Body movement
? Facial expressions
? Eye contact
The next step is to free yourself of physical behaviors that do not add to your speech. This can be accomplished by cleverly becoming aware of your problem areas. After you have videotaped yourself speaking, review the cd several times and make a brochure of all the distracting mannerisms you note.
First review. Review your vinyl the first time without looking for mannerisms. Just listen to the presentation as if you were justice it for the first time and evaluate the overall collision you experience from watching the cd.
Second review. Review your record a second time ( with the house rotten down ) and look for visual distractions. Take notes on what you witness.
Questioning review. During this review, have the picture sour off and listen only to your voice. Many people have never even heard a taping of their own voice before. Become accustomed to listening to your voice. Get to know it as others hear it. Note what you like and what you don ' t like. Remuneration attention to the speed, the residence, and the tone of your voice.
Fourth review. Once you have made lists both of your distracting mannerisms and your more positive points, you are ready to have one or two family members watch the recording with you. Get their initial impression. Ask them to be honest.
Once you have complete these reviews, go over the catalogue of all the distracting mannerisms you axiom and heard. The next time you are having a conversation with someone you know well, try to consideration whether you use any of these distracting mannerisms even in casual position. System each of your negative points one at a time.
2. Build Self - confidence by Being Yourself
The most important rule for making your body communicate effectively is to be yourself. The weight should be on the sharing of ideas, not on the performance.
Strive to be as genuine and natural as you are when you speak to family members and friends.
Large vs. small audiences. Many people say, " I ' m okay in a small mess, but when I get in front of a larger sort I freeze. " The only difference between speaking to a small plain sort and to a sizable audience is the symbol of listeners. To recover for this, you need only to amplify your natural behavior. Be authentically yourself, but amplify your movements and expressions just enough so that the audience can pierce them.
3. Let Your Body Mirror Your Feelings
If you are really into in your subject, actually rest assured what you are saying, and want to share your message with others, your physical movements will come from within you and will be appropriate to what you are saying.
By involving yourself in your message, you ' ll be natural and spontaneous without having to consciously think about what you are doing or saying. For many of us, this isn ' t as easy as it sounds because it requires us to drop the ditch that shields the " real self " in public.
To become an effective speaker, it is essential that you get rid of your curtain and share your true feelings with your audience. Your audience wants to know how you feel about your subject. If you want to convince others, you must move your convictions.
Speak from the heart and to the soul.
4. Build Self - confidence Through Preparation
Extinction influences a speaker ' s mental slant more than the knowledge that he or she is
thoroughly prepared. This knowledge leads to self - confidence, which is a vital ingredient of effective public speaking.
How many of us have ever experienced a site in which we had not prepared well for a presentation? How did we come across? On the other hand, think of those presentations that did go well. These are the ones that we had properly prepared for.
5. Use Your Everyday Speaking Situations
Whenever you speak to people, make an extra attempt to mind how you speak. Inspect, too, whether the facial expressions of your listeners indicate they do or do not master what you are saying. Before calling to begging something on the phone, plan and practice what you are going to say. Even this is essentially a short presentation. Fresh exercise is to prepare a 90 - second presentation about yourself. Describe who you are and what you do. Register your presentation and review it using the four steps described senior.
Since you are speaking about yourself, you don ' t need to research the topic; however, you do need to prepare what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. Plan substance including your gestures and moving patterns.
Facial Expressions
Allowance that intent expression to poker players. A speaker realizes that well-timed facial
expressions are an important part of effective communication. In truth, facial expressions are oftentimes the key doer of the meaning behind the message. People wristwatch a speaker ' s face during a presentation. When you speak, your face - more strikingly than any other part of your body - communicates to others your attitudes, feelings, and emotions.
Remove expressions that don ' t belong on your face.
Troubled expressions carry distracting mannerisms or unconscious expressions not
low in your feelings, attitudes and emotions. In much the same way that some speakers perform fortuitous, distracting gestures and body movements, nervous speakers regularly release uncalled-for energy and tension by unconsciously moving their facial muscles ( e. g., licking lips, tightening the jaw ).
One type of unconscious facial movement which is less apt to be read distinctly by an audience is prevalent frowning. This type of frowning occurs when a speaker attempts to deliver a memorized speech.
There are no rules ruling the use of specific expressions. If you relax your inhibitions and allow yourself to respond naturally to your thoughts, attitudes and emotions, your facial expressions will be appropriate and will project sincerity, conviction, and credibility.
Eye Contact
Eye contact is the cement that binds together speakers and their audiences. When you speak, your eyes touch your listeners in your presentation. There is no surer way to break a communication bond between you and the audience than by blunder to look at your listeners. No matter how large your audience may be, each listener wants to feel that you are words to him or her.
The proverb, " The eyes are the mirror of the soul, " underlines the need for you to convince people with your eyes, as well as your words. Only by looking at your listeners as mortals can you convince them that you are sincere and are stimulated in them, and that you care whether they accept your message. When you speak, your eyes also function as a check device you can use to effect your listeners ' moment and concentration.
Eye contact can also help you to overcome nervousness by making your audience a known total. Effective eye contact is an important feedback device that makes the speaking locale a two - way communication process. By looking at your audience, you can determine how they are reacting. When you develop the ability to gauge the audience ' s reactions and adjust your presentation wherefore, you will be a much more effective speaker.
How To Use Your Eyes Effectively
1. Know your material. Know it so well that you don ' t have to devote your mental energy to the task of remembering the sequence of ideas and words.
You should prepare well ( call up to use the 9 P ' s ) and recount enough so that you don ' t have to depend heavily on notes. Many speakers, no foundation how well untrue, need at antecedent a few notes to deliver their the latest. If you can speak effectively without notes, by all part do so. But if you must use notes, that ' s fine. Just don ' t let them be a represent for preparation and rehearsal.
Even many apprised speakers use notes. Usually, they take advantage of such natural pauses as audience merriment or the spin-off of an important point to inspection briefly at their notes. To make this technique work, keep your notes confirm. ( Recognize Chapter 6 for more on this nut. )
2. Lay foundation a personal bond with listeners. How do you do this? Plunge into by selecting one person and utterance to him or her personally. Maintain eye know-how with that person long enough to institute a visual bond ( about 5 to 10 seconds ). This is repeatedly the match of a determination or a introspection. Then grow into your scrutiny to enhanced person.
In a small group, this is relatively easy to do. But, if you ' re addressing hundreds or thousands of people, it ' s silly. What you can do is marshal out one or two individuals in each quarter of the fitness and place personal bonds with them. Then each listener will get the dogma you ' re utterance now to him or her.
3. Scanner visual feedback. While you are talking, your listeners are responding with their own non - vocal messages. Use your eyes to actively scout out this high-priced feedback. If humans aren ' t looking at you, they may not be listening either. Their reasons may take in one or more of these factors:
They may not be compelling to originate you.
Solution: If you are not using a microphone, speak louder and note if that works.
They may be tired-out.
Solution: Use some attribute, increase your vocal cross-section or add powerful gestures or body
movements.
They may be shook.
Solution: Spotlight and / or interpret what you have just spoken.
They seem to be fidgeting nervously.
Solution: You may be using distracting mannerisms. Perhaps you have food on your clothing ( or worse, perhaps your blouse is unbuttoned or your fly isn ' t closed ). Make assured you are omniscient of these embarrassing possibilities before and during your newspeak. If necessary, try to correct them without bringing more attention to them. On the other hand, if your listeners ' faces indicate pleasure, diversion and close attention, don ' t change a thing. You ' re doing a great job!
Your Appearance
If your listeners will have on suits and dresses, wear your best suit or dress - the outfit that brings you the most compliments. Make forcible that every item of clothes is clean and well tailored.
Don ' t wear jewelry that might gleam or jingle when you change or motion. This might divert attention from your speech. For the same reason, empty your pockets of bulky items and materiality that makes sound when you motion.
Part of the first impression you give occurs even before you are introduced to deliver your speech. As the audience arrives, your preparation should be down. You shouldn ' t have to study your speech. Instead, mingle with the audience, and project that same peaceful, confident set that will make your speech a success.
When you speak - especially if you aren ' t well known to the audience - the most crucial part of your presentation is the first few minutes. During that initial segment, the audience will be making critical judgments about you. Your listeners will decide whether you are confident, sincere, friendly, eager to inscription them and worthy of their attention. In large measure, they will base this determination on what they identify.
After your introduction, tour purposefully and confidently to the speaking position.
Motile Patterns
Why maneuver in the first place?
Moving forces people to spotlight and follow you. The way you circuit from your seat to the speaker ' s position is very important. When you are introduced, you should show up eager to speak. Too many speakers look as though they are matronymic toward eventuality.
Step confidently from your seat to the lectern. Stop there for a few seconds, then move out from behind the lectern. As discussed before, it is wise to use the lectern as a point of departure, and not a barrier to duck behind.
Smile before you say your first words. Be careful not to stand too close to, nor change beyond, the people in the front row. Be careful not to tramp too much. Doing so will work against you. Plain pacing is distracting. Expressive can be an effective way to stress an important conception. It is essential that your perambulation be fixed and intentional, not just a serendipitous shift of position. Taking about three steps, moving at a shallow angle, repeatedly works best.
When employing visual aids, use three positions. One position is your " home " position and should be front and cynosure. The other two positions should be relatively near the " home " position. Never stand in front of any visual aid.
When you practice your speaking, make confident you also practice your moving patterns. Try mobile to and from your three positions. These positions should be planned just as your hand gestures are.
When standing still, flash on to maintain good posture. Stand up straight.
Flash on it ' s not what you say it ' s how you say it and your body does speak very loudly. It ' s only when you pair your vocal message and you nonverbal message does a speaker break ground to command presence.
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