Public Speaking Course

Presentation Skills Checklist

Doug Staneart — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:34:01 +0000

When folks go through our presentation skills classes, they are often surprised at how simple we make designing and delivering fairly complex presentations. In fact, one of the things that we cover in the Fearless Presentations class is how to design an entire presentation, from start to finish, complete with a slide deck in fifteen minutes or less. Class members are often shocked at how fast they can design presentations that would have typically taken hours (or weeks) to complete. Below is a simple checklist that you can use when you design PowerPoint presentations in order to speed up the preparation time and reduce your fear of public speaking.

Presentation Skills Checklist

Step One: Start with the Presentation (what you want to say) and finish with the slideshow. Most people start with the visual aids and, eventually, realize they have too many slides or too many points and start cutting content. So they end up with a Swiss-Cheese presentation. Start with the presentation first, then choose slides that help you better explain the content.
Step Two: Choose a Compelling Topic (Title). Pretend that you are an audience member, and ask yourself what you’d what to hear about related to the topic. This is more difficult than you might think, because, since we know so much about the topic, we tend to want to tell the audience EVERYTHING that we know. However, that is not practical, so you have to give the audience only what they need, right now. For instance, if you are giving a financial report to the board, they are going to want to know about profit, but if you are giving a report to the sales team, they will be more interested in revenue compared to prior years. think of your audience when you choose your topic.
Step Three: Choose three to five key points to expand upon. Literally… three, four, or five points… TOTAL. Thinking about your topic, choose your key points by determining what are the three to five most important concepts related to the topic that the audience needs to know about. If you cover more points, the audience won’t remember them anyway, so focus on the most important points.
Step Four: Insert Proof for each Point. Insert a few stories, examples, facts, analogies, demonstrations, or samples that prove that your key point is true. If you prove each point along the way, then the group will very easily agree with your conclusion at the end of the presentation.
Step Five: Now Create Your Slides: Once you have the speech designed, now go back and choose visual aids to better explain your content.

Follow this checklist, and you will be able to create any presentation very quickly.

Personal Presentation Coaching in San Antonio, Texas

Doug Staneart — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 02:02:53 +0000

I just got back from conducting some presentation coaching with a few people in San Antonio, Texas, and we had a blast. One of the nice things about having a small group when we teach a public speaking class is that we can really customize the content to the group very effectively. Each participant got a lot of one-on-one coaching, and we helped them reduce the fear of public speaking, helped them create compelling persuasive speeches, and design entire PowerPoint slide decks from scratch. The group gave us fantastic feedback as the class continued, and you could physically see a difference in the way that each person carried themselves when they presented. We had a great time, and the class members really enjoyed the workshop.

Fearless Presentations Workshop in Chicago helps Participants with their Fear of Public Speaking

robjackson — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 01:34:54 +0000

The Leaders Institute conducted another very successful Fearless Presentations Workshop in Chicago, Illinois. The Participants learned how to overcome their fear of speaking in public and build self-confidence in their skills they learned in class. Some were surprised to find out that they were not alone in their anxiety. Public Speaking is the number one fear for most adults and is one of the main factors holding people back from achieving the success they desire in their field of employment. Most people have a fight or flight feeling going on inside when they are asked to give a presentation in front of a group. If at all possible, many people will avoid the opportunity to speak in public, just like running away. But, on those occasions that they are unable to reject the request, they are anxiety ridden and they feel forced to fight their greatest fear. This is where the Fearless Presentations Workshop can offer the help they need to overcome that debilitating situation. The participants are given powerful insights and skills that they can learn to overcome that fear. So, If you are ready to do something about overcoming the anxiety with speaking in pubic or giving presentations, go to the FearlessPresentations.com and locate a class that will be coming to your area and sign up for a class.

PowerPoint Tip Video-Use Pictures Properly to Better Explain Your Presentation

Doug Staneart — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:33:29 +0000

PowerPoint Tip Video: Use Pictures Properly to Better Explain Your Presentation

This is PowerPoint Tip #6 of Ten in the PowerPoint Tip Video Series. Pictures can add a lot of clarity to your presentation, but only when we use them properly. Pictures just for decoration sake can add confusion, but remember that a picture is “worth a thousand words,” so an appropriate picture at the correct time can make your words even more clear. This video gives a number of tips related to adding pictures and other visual aids to your PowerPoint Slideshows to make the presentations easier to understand and easier to deliver.

For additional PowerPoint Tips, access our online Video Seminar, How to Do a PowerPoint which gives you all ten videos as well as written tips that will help you design and deliver better presentations.

Participants in Public Speaking Deliver Compelling, Multilayer Presentations in San Diego, California

chrismcneany — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:28:34 +0000

Public speaking class in San Diego helps participants deliver compelling, multi-layered presentations in San Diego, California. The Leader’s Institute® conducted its two-day public speaking class in San Diego on March 6-7 to an enthusiastic group of 5 participants.

At first, some of the participants were reluctant to get up in front of the group and speak because of public speaking anxiety. Through the careful coaching by a Leader’s Institute® instructor, participants capitalized on their strengths and became more confident speakers as the class progressed. By the end of the second day, the class members surprised themselves by their ability to deliver presentations layered with stories, analogies, and demonstrations. Each participant receives a video copy of their presentation after the class is done, so they can see their progress.

The Leader’s Institute® holds its two-day Fearless Presentations® class in San Diego, California and across the U.S. and Canada. Whether you are looking to reduce the anxiety that comes with public speaking, or just make your presentations better, this public speaking class is for you.

Participants in Miami, Florida Fearless Presentations Class Learn the Importance of Connecting with Your Audience

robjackson — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 16:13:28 +0000

Participants in the Miami, Florida Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class Learn the Importance of Connecting with Your Audience when delivering presentations. We had seven people attend the presentation skills class in Miami, and we focused on, not only reducing public speaking fear, but also effective ways to really connect with your audience. The connection begins with the way that you carry yourself when you walk to the front of the room, the introduction that you use to capture attention, the stories and examples that you use to help turn facts and numbers into real-life events for your audience, and the energy that you have when you deliver. This step-by-step process allows for a better connection with the audience.

One of the biggest struggles with any new speaker is that they concentrate on themselves so much that they don’t do a good job of Connecting with their audience. To be a successful communicator, you must learn to connect. Connecting is the ability to identify with people and relate to them in such a way that establishes a positive rapport. When you are trying to persuade your audience to take action, change their mindset, or even purchase your product…connecting is everything. It’s the difference between just communicating and communicating effectively. According to the Harvard Business Review, “The number one criteria for advancement and promotion for professionals is an ability to communicate effectively. When giving an effective speech, it means connecting. Three years ago, I sat through a presentation, given by a very bright speaker. He had a lot of very good information to share with the audience, but failed to ever connect with them. At the end of the speech, the speaker made a call to action and the audience just sat there in awkward silence. Even though the information was good, they hadn’t developed enough trust in him to take the action he wanted of them. He learned the lesson the hard way about the importance of connecting. So, understand that it’s not only about the information; it’s also about developing a positive rapport and making a connection with the audience.

Participants in Columbus, Ohio learn to be Clear and Concise in the Fearless Presentations Class

robjackson — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:31:26 +0000

Participants in the Columbus, Ohio Fearless Presentations class learned the value and effectiveness of being clear and concise when speaking in front of a group. Many people feel like they need to share everything they know about the topic they are speaking on, when all they need to do is say just enough to persuade their audience to take they action that they are recommending. Sometimes, we can talk so much about a topic that the audience is turned off or may become bored by hearing to much about the subject. In surfing, there is a phrase of “kicking out of the wave”. In refers to when a surfer has ridden the wave as far as they can before making a real effort to ride the wave all the way to the beach. Once the wave closes out, a surfer can continue to ride the froth of the wave, but it takes a lot of effort. If they want to catch another wave, the best thing they can do is kick out of the wave once they have reached the end of the wave and paddle out and catch another. The same is true with giving an effective presentation. The speaker needs to say just enough to persuade their audience, but not so much to lose the attention of their audience. The Fearless Presentations class is extremely effective in helping their participants to organize their presentations to be highly persuasive while not saying too much. Go to www.fearlesspresentations.com and sign up for a class today.

How to Do a PowerPoint

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:26:29 +0000

PowerPoint Online Training Course

10 PowerPoint Tip Videos for just $49!

PowerPoint Training is, by-far, the absolute most requested topic from participants in our speaking courses. A few years ago, I wrote an article about The Ten Biggest Power Point Mistakes and how to avoid them, and our instruction team decided to turn that article into a short, on-line training course. This course is great as a stand-alone training program, but it works best after someone has been through one of our in-person Fearless Presentations courses that are offered in major cities all over the US, Canada, and Europe. Regardless of how you access the information, this course is a quick and easy way to learn how to do a PowerPoint Presentation.

PowerPoint Course Curriculum

The course contains 10 Simple PowerPoint Tip Videos and containing the 10 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes and How to Avoid Them as well as a written explanation of each mistake. Each of the videos last two to five minutes, and each offers a valuable tip that will help you design PowerPoint slides faster and better than ever before. This simple step-by-step outline can help your PowerPoint Slideshows become a visual aid and a help to your audience versus a crutch for helping you remember way too much content!

What is the absolute worst way to start designing a PowerPoint Presentation? (Over 95% of all presenters do this.)
How many PowerPoint Slides should you have?
What is the best way to organize your bullet points?
How to use animation effectively.
How to use charts and graphs.
How to use pictures better.
The biggest preparation mistake that will cause you to lose your train of thought almost 100% of the time.
A simple bad habit that will cause you to lose all authority on the topic you are presenting and be seen as a weak presenter.
The second most-common habit that, when eliminated, will add energy and enthusiasm to your presentation.
How to control the content of your presentation from start to finish.

If you really want to learn How to Do a PowerPoint well, then you can’t miss this course! The tuition for this course is just $49, and you can access the content of the workshop for up to one year from the time that you order. In addition, if you decide to attend the Fearless Presentations® class later, you’ll receive a coupon code that will give you a $50 discount off the tuition, so in reality, you can access this course for -$1! That is better than FREE!

Click Here to Access this Course

Avoid Overuse of Animation in PowerPoint Presentations (Video)

Doug Staneart — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:14:24 +0000

Free PowerPoint Tip #4: Avoid Overuse of Animation in PowerPoint Slides

PowerPoint will do some really cool types of animation, but remember that if you animate something, it should help you clarify your point. Bullet points that fly in, spin around, make sounds, and blink are just a distraction from your message. For the most part, the animation called “appear” should be your most frequently used. If you want your audience to follow you step-by-step, you can reveal your bullets one at a time. However, you’ll have more energy as a presenter if you just make your slide appear and physically move to your screen and point to your bullet point when you talk about it. You become the animation versus using the slideshow.

Don’t Eliminate Animation Entirely

Keep in mind that we are not suggesting that you eliminate animation entirely. If you do, you’ll be missing out on a great advantage of PowerPoint. A good graphic that is short and eye-catching (and that helps clarify your point) at the appropriate time can be very helpful and add some fun to the presentation. But if you rely heavily on animation to make your point for you, the PowerPoint Presentation will become the presentation, not the presenter.

Avoid overuse of animation in your PowerPoint Presentations.

Participants in Presentation Skills class in Seattle, Washington Transform Into Confident, Anxiety-free Presenters

chrismcneany — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:55:21 +0000

Fearless Presentations class in Seattle transforms participants into confident, anxiety-free presenters. The Leader’s Institute® didn’t let the overcast weather bring down the mood for its Fearless Presentations® class in Seattle, Washington February 14-15.

A few of the participants were so nervous when they had to speak that they had the shaky hands, sweaty palms, and other physical symptoms of nervousness. By the end of the two-day Fearless Presentations® class, they had gotten rid of their nervousness and couldn’t wait to deliver their final presentations. One of the participants literally told the class to “watch out” for her final presentation. Now that’s confidence! In addition to overcoming the fear of public speaking, participants were able to incorporate stories and examples into their presentations to make them more compelling and memorable.

In addition to traveling back to Seattle, Washington in August for its Fearless Presentations® public speaking class, the Leader’s Institute® offers the class year round throughout the United States. It is simply the best way to become a better, more engaging public speaker.

Reduce the Data on Your PowerPoint Slides-Video PowerPoint Tip

Doug Staneart — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:25:48 +0000

Reduce the Data on Your PowerPoint Slides-Video PowerPoint Tip

Too Much Data on Your PowerPoint Slides: Your PowerPoint slide deck should be a visual aid to help you explain your point, so if you put too much data on a slide (too much text, too many numbers, or charts and graphs – gasp – Is he saying we can’t use charts and graphs?) you will overwhelm you audience and cause them to attempt to draw their own conclusions about the data.

Your PowerPoint slide should convey a simple concept at a glance.

A good rule is what we call 6X6, which means to limit your number of words per line to six and limit your number of lines to about six as well. That way, no matter how big or small your room is, your audience will be able to read your data, and it will be easy for the audience to instantly understand the concept you are communicating.

Memorable Fearless Presentations Workshop follows the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, Indiana

robjackson — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:17:27 +0000

The Super Bowl wasn’t the only important event in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Leaders Institute held another Public Speaking Workshop right after the historic game. The people attending the workshop realized that they had a lot in common with the football players. They learned that it takes practice to be great at anything involving skill. Just as football players practice non-stop to be great at their sport, so do great public speakers. The only way to have confidence in your skills as a great presenter is to practice those skills very regularly until you have the boldness and confidence that those players did as they stepped on the field for the most important game of their career. Many times people are assigned an important presentation that will make or break their career. In those situations, you need two important things, a good coach and a whole lot of practice. The Leaders Institute Instructors have conducted hundreds of workshops and had thousands of people successfully develop the skills and confidence to deliver a game winning touchdown of a presentation. With the help of a professional instructor, participants learn to overcome anxiety and design a highly impactful and engaging presentation.

So, get off the bench and get in the game and attend one of Fearless Presentation Workshops held all over the country. You can find a location near you by going to FearlessPresentations.com .

Public Speaking class in San Francisco allows participants to overcome the fear of public speaking

chrismcneany — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:12:21 +0000

Public Speaking class in San Francisco allows participants to overcome the fear of public speaking through. The Leader’s Institute® conducted its Fearless Presentations® public speaking class to a small but mighty group of people who started off shy and ended up bold and engaging public speakers.

The participants in this class wanted to overcome the fear of public speaking and all the problems that come with it: the shaky voice, butterflies in the stomach, and shallow breathing that happens as a result of nervousness. By repeatedly getting up in front of the class under the coaching of a certified instructor with The Leader’s Institute®, the participants were able to get rid of their nervous jitters and become confident speakers.

The Leader’s Institute® regularly comes to San Francisco, California for its public speaking class, in addition to cities across the U.S. year round.

Eliminate Death by PowerPoint (Public Speaking Tip Video)

Doug Staneart — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:23:10 +0000

New PowerPoint Tip Video

Eliminate Death by PowerPoint is a new public speaking tip video in our PowerPoint Tip series. This is video #2.

Too many PowerPoint slides cause the audience to be bored and lose interest, so remember that in public speaking visual aids, less is more. Reduce the number of slides in your slide deck and create more of a conversation with your audience. Give more examples and analogies, and better explain the content of your main bullet points for a better presentation.

Creating too many slides and using them as a crutch to make sure that we don’t forget anything in our presentation sounds like a good idea when we start designing, our presentation, but in reality, it is a really, really big mistake. Oddly enough, this mistake most often occurs because we make the first mistake. (See PowerPoint Mistake #1 Designing the Slideshow First) Slide… Click… Slide… Click… Slide… Click… is a very boring way to deliver a presentation and makes the presenter look unprepared and uninformed about his/her topic. Only add a slide if the slide helps you better clarify your point.

Participants in the Detroit Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class Learn about the Importance of Making Good Eye Contact

robjackson — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:55:11 +0000

Participants in the Detroit Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class Learn about the Importance of Making Good Eye Contact and Smiling at the Audience. Many times, people who have some nervousness in public speaking don’t make good eye contact with the people in the audience. This is one of the biggest mistakes that you can make as a public speaker. Good eye contact is vitally important in developing a positive rapport with the people who are listening to you presentation. The key to overcoming the fear of having good eye contact is to look for the smiling faces in the crowd who are giving you positive feedback with their smiles and nodding heads. When we focus on the people who are truly engaged in our presentations, it takes away the nervousness that we often feel inside when we speak in public or do a big presentation.

What happens if No-One is smiling…Smile at them!! Usually the reason no one smiles during a person’s speech is that the speech is low energy and to serious. The best thing that a speaker can do is smile at their audience and they will find that they will smile back. It’s a natural human response.

So the next time that you start to feel the fear of public speaking start to sneak up on you while you’re giving a presentation , remember to smile at your audience and keep good eye contact with them.

For more help with this challenge and overcoming the fear of Public Speaking go to www.fearlesspresentations.com

The Atlanta Fearless Presentations Class Learns How to Handle Adversarial Questions

robjackson — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 22:50:48 +0000

Atlanta, Georgia — Participants in the Atlanta Fearless Presentations public speaking class Learn How to Handle Adversarial Questions. Every once in a while, someone will try to purposely trip you up in a presentation by asking a question that’s main intent is to make you look bad or show that you don’t know what you’re talking about. This is one of the reasons that people develop a fear of speaking in public or give a presentation. Usually, they are just having a bad day and want to take it out on someone, but we have to understand that as an effective speaker, we need to stay in control. It is human to respond to these types of attacks with a negative reaction, but this will destroy the rapport that you have spent your entire presentation building. So the most important thing you need to do is stay calm and never attack back!! Always respond back in a positive manner so that it will keep control of the situation and keep the audience on your side. If the person continues to attack, almost always, someone from your audience will come to your aide and tell the person to just keep quiet and listen to the presentation. But, this will not happen if you attach back or say something condescending to the rabble rouser.

So, if this ever happens to you while giving a speech, always remember to kill them with kindness and remember to never fight back. Keep control of your presentation and keep it positive.

For more help with this chalenge and overcoming the fear of Public Speaking go to www.fearlesspresentations.com

What is the Most Embarrassing Thing that has Ever Happened to You or Someone Else in a Presentation?

Doug Staneart — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:27:51 +0000

What is the Most Embarrassing Thing that has Ever Happened to You or Someone Else in a Presentation? We’ve ll had those hiccups in presentation delivery where we either just freeze, or a visual aid malfunctions, or we prepare an hour-long speech and are told just before we start that our available time has dropped to 25 minutes. These glitches can cause embarrassment, but they are also fantastic opportunities to shine. What was your most embarrassing presentation moment, and if you recovered… how did you do it?

The Fearless Presentations Workshop in Washington DC was Another Total Success

robjackson — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 22:01:23 +0000

The Fearless Presentations Workshop in Washington DC was another total success. The class was full of determined individuals wanting to improve their presentations and public speaking skills. The quality of the instruction was equaled to the efforts of the attendees. The overwhelming consensus of the people was that they felt like the class greatly reduced their anxiety for speaking in front of groups. Also the instruction of how to design a presentation with the audience in mind was very helpful in preparing very effect presentations. Washington DC is known for their incredible orators…you can add another 13 to the list. The improvement was very evident from the group from the beginning to the end.

Participants in the Fearless Presentations class in Phoenix, Arizona Eliminate Fear of Public Speaking

chrismcneany — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 21:24:45 +0000

Fearless Presentations® class in Phoenix, Arizona helps participants become more confident speakers. Many of the participants in the class experienced a fear of public speaking and nervousness that was holding them back in their careers.

In the Fearless Presentations® class, participants are able to overcome the fear of public speaking by immediately practicing the exercises that the instructor explains. By no means is this a passive, lecture-based class. Participants spend more time out of their seats than in their seats! When they leave the class, they feel more confident not only about speaking in front of a group, but also about the future of their careers.

Phoenix, Arizona is just one of the cities the Fearless Presentations® class comes to in the U.S. throughout the year. Participants are guaranteed to reduce their nervousness and improve their public speaking skills.

PowerPoint is a Visual Aid Not the Presentation

Doug Staneart — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:55:31 +0000

This video is a first in a series of PowerPoint Tips to help viewers more quickly and easily design and deliver PowerPoint Presentations. Tip #1 is that PowerPoint is a Visual Aid, Not the Actual Presentation. Most people start designing their speech by creating their slideshow, but that is backwards. If you design your presentation first, it is more easy now to design slides that help explain or prove the points in your presentation. If you design the slideshow first, you are likely to use Powerpoint as a crutch which increases nervousness and increases the chances that you will actually forget something or lose your audience along the way.

Pre-Holiday Public Speaking Workshop in Chicago Illinois Helps 9 People become Fearless

robjackson — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:49:39 +0000

While many people are thinking about buying presents and preparing for the holiday season, the 9 people who attended the Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Workshop prepared for a more successful future by improving their public speaking skills. They came from as far away as Paris, France to Chicago, Illinois, with a common goal — overcome their fear of speaking in public and learn a more effective way to deliver presentations. Mission accomplished. Everyone experienced major improvement in the increased confidence in their newly developed skills in public speaking. They each got up in front of the group and delivered five well thought out and delivered presentations. The Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Workshop is centered on the philosophy is that we have to have right attitude to develop a new skill, we must learn the proper techniques to be a great presenter, and to practice the new skills. But, participants found that the biggest difference between this workshop and others they have attended was the Real Time Coaching performed by one of the Leaders Institute’s qualified and experienced instructors.

Don’t miss out on your opportunity to improve your ability to communicate by signing up for one of the Fearless Presentations Workshops in your city, or one close by.

Three Ways to Spice Up Your Business PowerPoint Presentations

Doug Staneart — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:50:51 +0000

Business PowerPoint Presentations have changed a lot in the last ten years, but some of the best presentation secrets have been around for a while. Almost 25 years ago I was given a little book published in the 1950’s. It was entitled, “Public Speaking as the Audience Likes It”. I don’t remember much of the contents, but I do remember the point- when you are preparing to make a presentation, consider the audience and think about the best way to present your material so they will enjoy the experience and remember the valuable material. So here 3 things you need to know to help you relate to your audience when you design a business PowerPoint presentation.

Consider Your Audience

Before you start to design a business presentation, spend some time thinking about those who are going to receive your message. What do they have in common? What do you know about who they are? What do they feel? What experiences have they had? Where are they coming from? Consider, from the audience’s perspective- what is so important about what I have to say? Why should they listen? How will they benefit? And how can I help them enjoy the experience?

Too often we begin our preparation thinking about what we want and need to say. We think about major point and what information we need them to assimilate or remember. We think about our responsibility, and if we have any fear or trepidation about being in front of people, we just wish it were over and prepare the message without much thought given to the audience.

That last line is too much too true. We prepare the message without much thought given to the audience. We think about the message, what we want to say and how we are best going to say it; we prepare our PowerPoint slides hoping that will “wow” the audience into valuing the material. We remember the KISS method of presentations and we keep is simple, stupid. Maybe we remember the old adage, stand up, speak up, shut up, sit down. Fun little sayings, but not much help.

First in your PowerPoint preparation is to consider the audience and the best way to communicate with them. Think about the specific people, the demographics, commonalities, idiosyncrasies; examine them from every angle you can. Also consider your venue- where you will be making your presentation. Will you be on a stage with people seated in front of you; will you be on the same level as your audience; will they be at tables, round or square; will you use a microphone- hand held, lapel, or stationary; what kind of interaction can I facilitate, and the list goes on based on your own experience and creativity. But always consider your audience; it will influence the rest of your presentation.

Second- Involve the Audience

The days of getting up and speaking and then sitting down have past. We live in an age of reality TV in which we get to vote on the results, interactive games on the computer and via game modems, we have unlimited accessibility through cell phones, email and texting. People are not used to sitting back and just listening, the presenter must get them involved. So you have considered your audience, and you know your message, now how do you get the audience involved?

It is more than asking questions and showing slides, it is putting something in their hands, it is incorporating movement, it is using as many of their senses as possible to get them and keep them involved.

Nearly every book on public speaking skills written within the last 15 years has a section on telling stories, but don’t just tell a story, show it. If you were riding a bike, then show it; if you were going over something, show it; if you were involved in a heated conversation, show it; if you were throwing a ball, show- never just tell a story, but show it, use gestures and plenty of them.

Are you talking about something, an object, show it, better yet, if possible give everyone a sample. If you are talking about something with an aroma, then work the smell into your presentation, use a candle, home baked cookies, incense, whatever it takes. Perhaps it is a sound, a firecracker, jet engine, ocean waves- find a way to duplicate it for your audience’s aural stimulation. Perhaps it is a taste, give them something to remind them of the taste, a candy bar; a drink; ice cream- be creative. Maybe it is a texture- then give them something to feel, sandpaper, a piece of cloth, a rock, use your imagination, but incorporate some type of extra sensory experience for your audience to participate with you in the presentation. Be creative and push the envelope. (Some things I have done- handed out ice cream, given latex gloves and pens so the audience could take notes on their hands (five points-five fingers), lit incense prior so the room would smell like pine trees, given out hotel size soaps; spoken in a Santa Claus suit and a guerrilla outfit; given the participants small craft packages to built a boat made out of wooden ice cream spoons a toothpick and a piece of cloth, given out colored pipe cleaners for participants to fashion antennas… the ideas are as limitless as your imagination. Do it- get your audience involved.

Third- Be Concise in Your Closing

Once you had delivered the main thrust of your PowerPoint presentation and have involved the audience, leave them wanting more. Be concise in your closing remarks. Highlight the high points and then be on your way. Too many speakers close with their main points but continue to drag on thinking that re and re-emphasizing will make the message stick. When it is time to end, then end. Don’t keep re-covering the topics and never introduce new material. If you have considered the audience, gotten them involved, then you can make a quick recap and let their involvement continue to speak after you have stopped.

Besides giving thoughtful consideration to your messages, these are three ideas to help your presentation be powerful and memorable- first, consider the audience; second, involve the audience; and third- make your closing concise.

Participates in New York Public Speaking Workshop See How Personalities Help or Hurt Presentations

robjackson — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 20:28:46 +0000

Participates of the Fearless Presentations public speaking workshop got to enjoy the fun of shopping in Manhattan, New York during the holiday season as well as strengthen their confidence in their ability to speak with confidence. One of the Gifts that they received in the workshop was an understanding of how their personalities are their greatest strength as well as their weakness when delivering a speech. Regardless of someone’s personality, the key is to overcome the fear of speaking in public first. Once the anxiety is overcome, people with outgoing personalities have the strength of sharing their presentations with passion and enthusiasm, while the introverted people will usually use facts and data to get their points across. An extrovert could benefit from including more evidence with their presentations, while the introvert will benefit by delivering their presentations with a little more enthusiasm and excitement.

Make sure to sign up for the Fearless Public Speaking Workshop next time it’s in New York in Early 2012 by going to www.FearlessPresentations.com .

Participants of Presentations Skills Class in Dallas Texas Deliver Concise and Compelling Presentations

chrismcneany — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 17:22:59 +0000

Presentation skills class in Dallas, Texas November 17-18 provided a great opportunity for participants to deliver concise, compelling presentations.

The Leader’s Institute® held its two-day presentation skills class in Dallas, Texas with a very energetic and enthusiastic group. Participants were able to get rid of the fear of public speaking and deliver dynamic, engaging presentations. By the end of the second day, each participant delivered their presentations with ease by learning how to use a clear, easy-to-follow structure. They were able to design these presentations in 15 minutes or less! Then they added more flavor to them, by incorporating stories, analogies, demonstrations, and audience participation questions.

The Leader’s Institute® offers more than just a presentation skills class. It’s truly a life-changing experience! Classes are offered approximately every 3 months in Dallas, Texas and across the U.S.

VIDEO-Design Your Presentation Based on Your Audience

Doug Staneart — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:53:50 +0000

When you write a presentation or design a PowerPoint slideshow, make sure and think of your audience first. This public speaking video gives tips on how to write a speech better by considering the wants and needs of your audience first. When your audience changes, your presentation should also change. When your audience changes, your PowerPoint slideshow also needs to change. Consider your audience, and you are much more likely to have a success delivering your presentation.

This presentation skills video is one part of a three-part video series that helps presenters design presentations more quickly and easily. Subscribe to our feed or LIKE us on Facebook to receive additional tips in this series.

Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Workshop comes back to Sunny Miami Florida

robjackson — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:40:07 +0000

Another successful Fearless Presentation Public Speaking Workshop was completed in sunny Miami on November 15 and 16th 2011. The participants met at a beachside hotel to improve their presentation speaking skills. It was once again, as usual for Miami, a multi-national that had two goals in mind, to overcome their anxiety for speaking in public and to learn to design and deliver a more effective presentation. Countries like Croatia, St. Thomas Virgin Islands, and Canada, as several people from the United States participated in a two-day presentations course. The one thing that they all learned is that the fear of public speaking is universal, but something we can all do if we understand that public speaking is a skill that can be developed and mastered. The class saw significant improvement at the end of the second day felt much more confident with their ability to speak clearly and concisely. Fearless Presentations will be back in Miami in February of 2012, make sure to sign up today and take the next step to improving your public speaking skills.

The Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Workshop returns to Historic Boston Massachusetts.

robjackson — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 16:35:32 +0000

The Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Workshop returns to Historic Boston Massachusetts. Just as Paul Revere was able to ride up and down the streets of Boston yelling, “The British are coming, the British are coming,” with confidence and conviction, the participates in the Fearless Presentations class were able to speak with the same confidence after the went through the World Renowned Public Speaking Workshop put on by The Leaders Institute. The group learned 10 ways they could reduce the Anxiety that they, and most people feel before giving a presentation. It was another highly successful two days of building the skills necessary to have poise and confidence in public speaking. Don’t miss out on the next workshop in Boston in early 2012.

YMCA of the USA includes Adding Impact to Presentations breakout session at their annual conference in Chicago, IL

ellenpatnaude — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 04:55:37 +0000

I had a great time in Chicago recently with more than 60 staff from the YMCA of the USA offices from around the country as they held their annual conference, which included a breakout session workshop on Adding Impact to Presentations. The YMCA of the USA is the national organization that umbrellas the YMCA branches found in more than 10,000 communities across the US. This organization has been around for 160 years and serves millions of children and families every year. As one of our partner recipient organizations for our Build-A-Bike team building workshop, we were excited to have the opportunity to work with the Y in their staff’s development.

With only an hour together, it was a fast-paced workshop from the start! We talked about several powerful presentation skills tools for adding impact to any public speaking situation, and then did two exercises that gave everyone the opportunity to try them out. Storytelling is one of our most powerful tools, and the participants had a great time learning more about each other as they practiced our specific format.

“Everyone loved the presentation skills workshop! It was the first one to fill up when we offered it at registration, and it exceeded everyone’s expectations. Ellen was wonderful to work with before, during and after! We will definitely do this again in the future!” — Jackie Gordon, YMCA of the USA

Even hour-long breakout sessions can prove highly effective for enhancing your team’s presentation skills. The interactive style of workshop gives everyone the chance to try out what they are learning. If you want to give your next conference breakout sessions a boost, consider one of our many presentation skills or team building skills workshops!

Upcoming Public Speaking Classes-Fearless Presentations 2-Day Seminar

admin — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 01:08:15 +0000

Below is a short list of the upcoming Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Classes. Click on any of the links below for locations and times of each of these two-day presentation skills seminars.

2011 Nov 23-24 Dublin Ireland
2011 Nov 25-26 London England
2011 Dec 6-7 Cincinnati OH
2011 Dec 8-9 San Francisco CA
2011 Dec 8-9 Tampa FL
2011 Dec 13-14 Philadelphia PA
2011 Dec 15-16 Chicago IL
2012 Jan 16-17 Los Angeles CA
2012 Jan 17-18 Kansas City MO
2012 Jan 19-20 Washington DC
2012 Jan 19-20 Phoenix AZ
2012 Jan 23-24 Detroit MI
2012 Jan 26-27 Atlanta GA
2012 Jan 26-27 Houston TX
2012 Feb 7-8 Indianapolis IN
2012 Feb 9-10 Dallas TX
2012 Feb 14-15 Seattle WA
2012 Feb 16-17 Boston MA
2012 Feb 21-22 Miami FL
2012 Feb 23-24 Baltimore MD

To register for any of these presentation skills classes, click here:

Public Speaking Tip-Stories and Examples Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:33:17 +0000

Stories and Examples Reduce Public Speaking Fear

The fastest and easiest way to eliminate public speaking fear is to insert more examples and stories into your formal presentations or PowerPoint Slideshows. When participants in public speaking classes are first introduced to this technique, many of them will often resist the advice thinking, “My presentations are technical (or numbers oriented or academic) so my audience isn’t really into stories.” When a presenter has this attitude, he/she is missing out on a fantastic opportunity to make their presentations easier to follow and understand, more memorable, and easier to deliver. Your audience not only wants examples, but they also expect examples to help them better understand your content.

Stories Make Presentations Easier to Follow and Easier to Understand

The more technical a presentation, the more vital it is to include stories and examples. A technical presentation without examples is purely theoretical, whereas a technical presentation with examples is extremely practical.

For example, let’s say that I’m delivering a presentation on last quarter’s financials for my company. If I just give the audience the numbers… Last quarter, we had a 15% increase in revenue, but profit was down 1.2%, I’ve given the audience the technical aspects of the presentation, but the audience is likely to be unclear of exactly WHY the numbers came out the way that they did. So in order to give the audience a clearer understanding, I’d need to include the story behind the numbers. What happened to cause the increase in revenue and why did profit suffer?

The presenter could relay the explanation in a story by telling the audience how in the middle of the last quarter, the company invested in some new advertising that finally hit in the last month of the quarter. As a result, for the last few weeks, the phones have been ringing quite a bit more frequently, but not all of the new leads generated from the advertising have closed yet, so profit should return shortly. For example, Chris, one of our telephone sales reps got a lead two weeks ago from Microsoft in which he is in the process of negotiating a big $80,000 contract. He expects that contract to close in the next 10 days. We have another seven pending contracts that should close in the next 30 days as well.

The example clarifies the data and makes it easier for the audience to understand—even if they are unfamiliar with the technical side of the business. You don’t have to be an accountant to understand how the revenue can be up and profit down temporarily if you’ve just listened to the story above.

Stories Make Presentations Easier to Remember

When we give our audience a list of facts, figures, and numbers, most often, the audience will remember only a small percentage of the data that is presented to them. However, when we give the data in a story format, the data becomes much more memorable. For example, year to date, Joe’s closing ratio is 12.3%, Colette’s ratio is 21.7%, and Bill is at 7.5%. The average ratio is 13.83% which 3.8% higher than our 10% goal that we set in January. Many presenters will give lots of data in a format such as this (a list… a chart… a graph), but if we just recite the data and numbers without the context, the figures are very challenging to remember.

So let’s test the theory. Without looking back at the numbers above, who had the highest closing ratio, and what was that ratio? If you were able to remember the number, then congratulations. You are in a vast minority of people. Most people forget numbers the moment that they hear them. Now let’s deliver the numbers in a story format and see if it’s easier to remember.

At the beginning of the year, we set a goal of have a 10% closing ratio for our sales team. One of the ways that we wanted to accomplish this goal was to focus more on repeat business. Colette, who is one of our best sales reps, took this goal to heart, and she has really focused on working with her current customers. For example, last fall, she worked with Jet Blue on a series of contracts that brought in about $50,000 in business in their New York hub. Since they are such a good customer, she started working with them to do similar programs in one more of their hubs in Salt Lake City. As a result, she was able to generate an additional $50,000 on the West Coast last quarter. She increased her personal closing ratio to 21.7% because she is getting multiple contracts off of the same lead.

After reading that story, who is our best sales rep? What was her closing ratio? How much total revenue was she able to generate from Jet Blue? If you were able to correctly answer these questions, you’re now seeing the power of stories.

Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Just as a long list of numbers and statistics is hard for an audience member to remember, it’s equally hard for the presenter to remember. As a result, when we stand up to recite a list of facts, we put tremendous pressure on ourselves in increase nervousness dramatically. However, when we deliver the facts and figures in a story format, the delivery is much easier.

Basically, when we tell a story from our own first-person experience, all we really have to do is play the video tape in our head of what actually happened and just recite it as we remember it. This takes away a lot of the pressure. One of the most dramatic changes that class participants receive when they learn this secret is a dramatic reduction in public speaking fear. In fact, if you can use stories or example to prove or verify your bullet points, you’ll wow your audience and pretty much eliminate your fear of public speaking. It’s a win-win solution to public speaking nervousness.

This is an embarrassing example, but it really shows how this works. I was hired to deliver a keynote speech for an association in Chicago, so on the plane trip into ORD, I wrote out the speech that I’d be delivering a couple hours later. (Since I teach people how to write presentations pretty quickly, this is kind of a normal habit for me.) Well, about three or four minutes before I was introduced, the director of the organization introduced me to the president of the organization and let me know that the meeting would be called to order shortly. He said that he would start with a few points of order, but that I would be introduced shortly after the start of the meeting. As I sat down in my seat, I looked over at the seat next to me, and it had a meeting agenda sitting on it. As I looked down at the agenda, I noticed that it had my name listed as the keynote speaker, but the topic of my speech was total different than the one that I had designed on the plane. My heart dropped, and I started to feel a little dizzy. Panic was just about to hit me, and I paused, thought about the topic, came up with a few tips, and basically wrote the whole speech as I was walking up to the front of the room to deliver it. When the speech was over, I got a standing ovation. What made the speech work, though, was that I reinforced each of the tips with a simple real-life story of how to use it. Every time I completed another story, my nervousness dropped. It worked perfectly, and the audience loved it.
So give examples and stories, and you’ll feel more comfortable and your audience will love you.

VIDEO: Stories Make Your Presentations More Memorable

Doug Staneart — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:12:27 +0000

In this public speaking tips video, Rob Jackson, instructor for the Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Class, shows how when you add stories to your presentations, you make your speeches much more memorable. Audience members will remember statistics and data much easier in your PowerPoint slideshows if you relay the stories behind the numbers. Give your audience the examples that explain the data, and they will remember a lot more of your presentation. Adding stories to your presentation is one of the most important public speaking tip that you’ll ever come across.

VIDEO: Stories Make Your Presentations More Understandable

Doug Staneart — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:55:46 +0000

This public speaking skills video helps presenters make their presentations more understandable and easier to follow by adding stories and examples into the structure of their PowerPoint presentation or slideshow. In addition to reducing public speaking fear, stories allow the audience to better picture in their minds exactly what the presenter is trying to communicate. So if you want to improve your public speaking, add stories and examples into your presentations.

Fearless Presentations® Class in Phoenix, Arizona Allows Participants to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking at The Core Institute

chrismcneany — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:46:11 +0000

The Leader’s Institute® held its Fearless Presentations® public speaking class in Phoenix, Arizona, where a group of 15 enthusiastic participants from The Core Institute were able to overcome the fear of public speaking in a 2-day public speaking class.

By getting up in front of the group and practicing the techniques taught by the instructor, The Core Institute participants were able to get rid of the sweaty palms, shaky voice, and other symptoms of nervousness that often come with public speaking. One participant mentioned how much she was dreading the class beforehand, but by the end of the 2-day class, said how much she enjoyed the class! Delivering presentations can truly be fun after eliminating the fear of public speaking.

The Fearless Presentations® class is offered in Phoenix, Arizona and in cities across the United States. The class is also offered on-site to meet a specific company’s needs.

Public Speaking Class in Houston, Texas Helps Participants Become More Effective Public Speakers

chrismcneany — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:40:59 +0000

The Leader’s Institute® conducted its public speaking class in Houston, Texas to participants who started out nervous and came out as very effective public speakers!

Since it was a small group, each participant received in-depth one-on-one coaching. They were able to receive invaluable tools to overcome nervousness in public speaking, learn how to persuade an audience, and were given a simple way to design presentations in 15 minutes or less! The Leader’s Institute® conducts public speaking classes regularly in Houston, Texas and throughout cities in the United States. It’s the fastest way to become more effective public speakers, and have a lot of fun in the process!

Public Speaking Class in San Diego Helps Participants Delivers Fearless Presentations

chrismcneany — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:00:05 +0000

Public Speaking Class in San Diego helps participants deliver Fearless Presentations. The Leader’s Institute® traveled to beautiful San Diego, California to conduct its Fearless Presentations public speaking class on September 20-21.

Participants attended the course to overcome the fear of public speaking and to improve their presentation skills. By working with a trained coach, each participant was able to receive personalized coaching and take their presentations to the next level. This group was able to incorporate stories into their presentations very effectively. Stories help to capture the audience’s attention, build rapport, and relax when they feel those nervous jitters coming on. They experienced firsthand how the use of stories in presentations is a win-win situation!

Whether your are in San Diego, California or any one of the other fifty cities where we conduct Fearless Presentations®, we have public speaking classes scheduled year round.

VIDEO-Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 20:05:44 +0000

Public Speaking Tips Video: Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

One of the easiest ways to reduce the fear of public speaking is by inserting stories or examples to reinforce or back-up facts or statistics in your presentation. Stories are easy to deliver, and you don’t have to memorize them, so they reduce public speaking fear.

To Register for a Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class, click here.

Public Speaking Fear-The Quick and Easy Way to Fearless Presentations

Doug Staneart — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 15:15:55 +0000

The fear of public speaking is still one of the biggest and most debilitating fears. Public speaking fear causes competent professionals to miss out on fantastic opportunities to persuade and win people to their way of thinking. So where does this fear come from? Better yet… How does the average person get rid of it? The truth is that public speaking is a skill just like any other skill in that the first time that you do it, you will be nervous. However, if you are still feeling the fear time after time, it’s probably caused by some of the things that you are doing to try to eliminate that fear. That’s right… Often the things that you do to try to reduce public speaking fear actually end up CAUSING this presentation nervousness.

Where Public Speaking Fear Comes From?

Anytime a person tries something for the first time, he or she will feel nervousness or anxiety about it. Remember back when you got on a bicycle for the first time? Or the first time you tried to drive on the freeway? We tend to remember situations like riding a bike for the first time or driving a car for the first time because in those situations, we felt an imminent threat to our safety — the bigger that threat to our safety is, the more intense the fear or nervousness. For instance, if you have ever been sky-diving or bungee jumping, you probably felt a lot of fear.

Last week, I took a trip to London with my wife, and since we had been to London a few times, we decided to do some of the things that we always wanted to do, but just never got around to it. So we ended up going to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is the big architectural centerpiece of London that the US Capitol building was modeled after. On the tour, we got to walk up over 500 stairs up to the very top of the dome. When we got to the top, an usher was sitting in a chair and looked at us and pointed to a small peek-hole built into the floor. My heart started racing as I leaned over and peeked through. Now I knew that there was a solid floor between me and the cathedral floor hundreds and hundreds of feet below, but that didn’t really help. I could feel the room start to spin a little as I got just a little queasy. Somehow my sub-conscious mind came to the conclusion that if I wasn’t careful, my 225 lb body was going to squeeze through this four inch hole and fall to my death on the hard stone surface below. It was a crazy thought. I quickly looked up and realized that I was still in the safety of the confined room, and I started to think more clearly. When I looked a second time, it was still scary, but not nearly as debilitating. Fear when you attempt something new is normal, and if it’s NOT there, you’re likely to have a much bigger problem than if it IS there.

To a lesser extent, though, we feel this fear constantly when we try something new even if the threat of bodily harm is not apparent. For instance, when I got my first Smart Phone, and I accessed the App Store, I was really nervous about downloading that very first “Free App” because I was scared to death that I’d end up with a recurring charge on my phone bill that I’d never be able to get rid of. I felt the same way years ago the first time I entered a credit card number on Amazon.com and bought a book. Nervousness is normal when we try something new. The more imminent the threat to our safety, the more nerve-racking the activity will be. For instance, my heart beat a lot faster when the first time I went bungee jumping than it did the first time than when I bought a book on Amazon.

I good analogy for this fear is when you are walking down a lonely street in a big city. If you see petite woman in a white lab coat walking toward you, you may not feel a lot of fear. However, if you see a teenage with tattoos and gang paraphernalia, you might start to experience a bit a anxiety. If you see four people dressed the same way, and two of them are carrying baseball bats, you will likely feel great fear. The more that you are threatened by an experience, the more fear you will fear during the experience.

Public speaking fear comes from an internal sense of a threat. The more that you see the speaking activity as a threat, the more fear you will feel. So, the key to lowering the threat is to lower the risk. For instance, in the analogy above where a gang of hoodlums is coming at you with baseball bats, if you happen to be accompanied by a couple of armed bodyguards, you will probably not feel nearly as much fear as you would if you were alone and unarmed.

Lower the Risk, Lower the Threat, Lower the Fear

When the risk of harm is lowered, the fear will diminish pretty dramatically. When I was high above St. Paul’s Cathedral, and I took that second look, I had consciously reassured myself that it would be impossible for me to fall. So the second look was not nearly as shocking as the first look. The first time I drove on the expressway, I was a nervous wreck (no pun intended), but after years of success driving at fairly fast speeds, now when I drive on the expressway, it’s almost second nature.

There are times that I’ve driven to the store or my office, and I put my car into park at my destination and think, “How did I get here?” The process was so second-nature to me, that I didn’t even have to think about it.

The skill of public speaking can happen in much the same way. Public speaking training with a good coach can ensure that you gain confidence in a step-by-step fashion so that as you get up in front of the next group, you have a pretty good shot at having a successful experience. Since the risk of failure is now lower, your fear will lower as well. The lower that your risk of failure becomes, the lower your fear will be as well. So after you train with a good coach, and you deliver your next presentation, because you are better prepared, you’re more likely to have a successful experience. The fear may still be there for this first run, but once you complete the presentation, and you have performed well during the speech, you’ll feel more confident about what you’ve accomplished. So the next time that you stand up to speak, it should be much easier. And the next time, easier still.

Are You Growing as a Speaker?

The point is that every time that you speak, you should have a success — You should set yourself up for success. And every time that you have an additional success, your confidence should grow. If that is not happening for you, then something is interrupting this cycle. For instance, some public speaking classes have a teacher or an instructor who uses constructive criticism as a coaching tool. Typically, the class member will deliver the speech, sit down, and receive a critique of his/her performance.

So instead of the teacher helping the class member deliver the initial speech better (helping the participant succeed), the teacher waits for the participant to fail and then gives a critique that reinforces that failure. As a result, when the class member stands up to deliver his/her next speech, instead of confidence, the person is experiencing a higher risk of failure. “I failed last time, so I’m likely to also fail this time… As soon as I sit down, I’m going to get another critique.”

A good public speaking coach will help a speaker deliver a better speech in the first place and then build on each of these successes. The difference in styles would be like letting a four-year-old get on a new bike and pedal and fall… pedal and fall… pedal and fall, and then once the kid is really frustrated coming over and critiquing her performance by telling her the three main things that she did wrong. Then waiting a week or two and repeat the process again. Although the fear would be high on the first attempt, the fear would be even higher the second time this new rider tried to get on the bike. A good coach will hold the seat for the child and then praise her performance once she has a small success. Once she has even a small success the risk of failure lowers, and although she’ll still be nervous, she’s now willing to attempt something more complicated. As the successes grow, the confidence will grow as well.

Get a good public speaking coach, and your confidence will grow. The Leader’s Institute® offers Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Classes in cities all over the world. Click the link to access a class schedule or to request information.

VIDEO-Public Speaking Fear Grows with Constructive Criticism

Doug Staneart — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 14:55:58 +0000

A new video about how helpful coworkers, supervisors, even spouses who give us constructive criticism to help us reduce public speaking fear actually have an opposite effect. Constructive criticism causes public speaking fear!

The Leader’s Institute® Presentation Skills Class Delivers World Class Presentations in Chicago Illinois

chrismcneany — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 03:34:25 +0000

The Leader’s Institute® conducted a presentation skills class in Chicago, IL, where participants not only improved their public speaking skills, but also delivered outstanding presentations by the end of the second day!

The class is designed to reduce the nervousness that often comes with public speaking, and teach students how to design a world class presentation in 15 minutes or less. We had a very enthusiastic group of people who came from both the Chicago area and from across Illinois and the United States to take the class. They especially enjoyed learning tools to improve impromptu speaking, and had a lot of fun in the process. Good job everyone!

VIDEO-Reduce Public Speaking Risk and Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:09:14 +0000

Public Speaking Video: Reduce Public Speaking Risk and Reduce Public Speaking Fear. The fear of public speaking basically comes from an increased risk of failure. The bigger the risk, the bigger the fear. So if you lower the risk associated with public speaking — in essence insure that you have a success when you stand up to speak, the nervousness and fear diminishes significantly.

Stories and Examples Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 20:18:15 +0000

The fastest and easiest way to eliminate public speaking fear is to insert more examples and stories into your formal presentations or PowerPoint Slideshows. When participants in public speaking classes are first introduced to this technique, many of them will often resist the advice thinking, “My presentations are technical (or numbers oriented or academic) so my audience isn’t really into stories.” When a presenter has this attitude, he/she is missing out on a fantastic opportunity to make their presentations easier to follow and understand, more memorable, and easier to deliver. Your audience not only wants examples, but they also expect examples to help them better understand your content.

Stories Make Presentations Easier to Follow and Easier to Understand

The more technical a presentation, the more vital it is to include stories and examples. A technical presentation without examples is purely theoretical, whereas a technical presentation with examples is extremely practical. For example, let’s say that I’m delivering a presentation on last quarter’s financials for my company. If I just give the audience the numbers… Last quarter, we had a 15% increase in revenue, but profit was down 1.2%, I’ve given the audience the technical aspects of the presentation, but the audience is likely to be unclear of exactly WHY the numbers came out the way that they did. So in order to give the audience a clearer understanding, I’d need to include the story behind the numbers. What happened to cause the increase in revenue and why did profit suffer?

Stories Make Presentations Easier to Remember

Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

So give examples and stories, and you’ll feel more comfortable and your audience will love you.

Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class Beats the Heat in Dallas Texas

chrismcneany — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 16:42:49 +0000

Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class in Dallas, Texas. A great group of folks didn’t let the heat wave in Dallas stop them from picking up some tips to reduce nervousness and create captivating presentations for our Fearless Presentations public speaking class in Dallas August 15-16. We had one participant who excelled at using analogies in his presentations to make his content clear to his audience. Through our one-on-one coaching, we helped him fine-tune his analogies to make them even better! Fearless Presentations is a 2-day presentation skills class which gives participants the tools to deliver powerful introductions, learn how to most effectively incorporate stories and examples into any topic, and by the end of day 2, deliver world-class, compelling presentations. Well done, everyone!

Video: Where Does Public Speaking Fear Come From?

Doug Staneart — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:49:51 +0000

Public Speaking Fear: New video Where does public speaking fear comes from? This video is a preview of a series of 30 public speaking tips videos that we are creating that will accompany 10 chapters of our new public speaking book that will be published in the next few months. This first video explains where public speaking fear comes from so that you can then eliminate the fear. Please let us know what you think.

Los Angeles Fearless Presentations Class in August Eliminates Fear for Young and Young at Heart

Doug Staneart — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 02:47:13 +0000

We had a nice surprise in our recent Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class in Los Angeles. We had our usual group of high level executives, but we also had a couple of teenagers preparing for the future. One of the participants was a young lady who was just about to start college, and her brother who is a sophomore in high school joined her. They added a lot of fun and energy to the class, and the the rest of the participants really welcomed them into the group. One of the things that we hear most often in the class is comments like, “I wish that I had taken this public speaking class 10 years ago (20 years ago… 30 years ago),” because once you eliminate that public speaking fear, doors that were closed tend to open up and opportunities tend to present themselves. These young people have a dramatic advantage as they enter into the workforce.

Don’t be the person who says, “I wish I had”. Los Angeles public speaking classes are scheduled about once every three months, and we offer Fearless Presentations in over 50 cities around the world. Visit the Fearless Presentations website for details.

August and September Fearless Presentation Classes

admin — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:41:31 +0000

The Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Class is the fastest, easiest way to reduce stage fright and the fear of public speaking. This 2-day presentation training seminar helps participants gain poise and confidence in front of a group — fast! Stage Fright is still the #1 fear in America. And, right or wrong, people form a perception of who we are and what we represent by the confidence that we show when we deliver business presentations. A person who can stand in front of a group, with poise and confidence, can immediately create the perception of competency. However, a person who is shy and timid in front of a group will have a tough time convincing the audience that he is capable.

August and September Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Classes

2011 Aug 11-12 Indianapolis IN

2011 Aug 15-16 Dallas TX

2011 Aug 18-19 Miami FL

2011 Aug 23-24 Boston MA

2011 Aug 25-26 Baltimore MD

2011 Aug 25-26 Philadelphia PA

2011 Aug 30-31 Seattle WA

2011 Sept 8-9 Columbus OH

2011 Sept 13-14 Chicago IL

2011 Sept 15-16 New York NY

2011 Sept 20-21 San Diego CA

2011 Sept 22-23 San Francisco CA

2011 Sept 27-28 Austin TX

2011 Sept 29-30 Orlando FL

Click and of the links above for details about or to register for any of these public speaking seminars.

August and September Fearless Presentation Classes

Doug Staneart — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 14:41:31 +0000

August and September Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Classes

2011 Aug 11-12 Indianapolis IN

2011 Aug 15-16 Dallas TX

2011 Aug 18-19 Miami FL

2011 Aug 23-24 Boston MA

2011 Aug 25-26 Baltimore MD

2011 Aug 25-26 Philadelphia PA

2011 Aug 30-31 Seattle WA

2011 Sept 8-9 Columbus OH

2011 Sept 13-14 Chicago IL

2011 Sept 15-16 New York NY

2011 Sept 20-21 San Diego CA

2011 Sept 22-23 San Francisco CA

2011 Sept 27-28 Austin TX

2011 Sept 29-30 Orlando FL

Click and of the links above for details about or to register for any of these public speaking seminars.

Self-Growth Website

Doug Staneart — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:29:45 +0000

Just wanted to let you know about one of my absolute favorite websites called www.selfgrowth.com. It has one of the most comprehensive libraries of motivational and self-help articles, videos, websites, and more, and it is a great place to spend a few minutes early in the morning before the work day. If you are a fan of the site, let me know by hitting the LIKE button above.

Self-Growth Website

Doug Staneart — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:29:45 +0000

July 7-8 Detroit MI Fearless Presentation Public Speaking Class

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:49:10 +0000

We had a really nice group of women attend the Fearless Presentations Public Speaking class in Detroit, Michigan last week. This was a smaller class, so each participant got a great deal of one-on-one coaching from the instructor, and the presentations that they designed were very well done. Fearless Presentations helps participants eliminate the fear of public speaking by coaching them during a series of step-by-step presentations leading to a fairly complicated final presentation. However, by the time that the participants get to this final presentation, it’s really almost second nature. This group was even able to cover some additional material because we had a little extra time due to the class size. We had a lot of fun!

July 7-8 Detroit MI Fearless Presentation Public Speaking Class

Doug Staneart — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:49:10 +0000

People Judge Your Competence by Confidence that You Show

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:37:54 +0000

The Importance of Self-Confidence People will judge our COMPETENCE by the CONFIDENCE that we show. For example, let’s say that you are going in for surgery, and just before you go under, the surgeon walks into your room. His posture is slouching, as he speaks, he stumbles over his words somewhat, and when you look at his hands, they are trembling a little. Now, it doesn’t matter how good of a surgeon he is, you’ll probably want a second opinion (maybe even a third opinion) — Fast! Well, it’s the same in just about any industry. People judge how good we are at what we do by how confident we are when we communicate with them. If we speak with poise and confidence, they will automatically make the assumption that we are competent at what we do until we prove ourselves otherwise. The opposite is true as well. When we speak with nervousness or fear, the audience will automatically assume that we don’t know what we are doing until we prove ourselves otherwise.

Trainee Perception

A couple of days ago, I took my kids to a fast-food place. It was pretty busy, so I jumped in the shortest line. When I got to the front of the line, I gave the young person my order, and I could tell by the look in her eyes that something I had said had confused her. She looked down at her screen and started searching for the item that I had mentioned. My first impression of her kicked in, and it was “Wait a minute… something is wrong her.” I watched her finger searching the electronic menu, I could see it tremble a little. I changed my impression to “Ahhh… must be a trainee.” Immediately after drawing that conclusion, I glanced at her name tag, and there it was… Trainee in small letters under her name. (By the way, she gave us great service and did a great job, but that is not the point.) The point is that her self-consciousness caused her to question herself. When she questioned herself, she showed nervousness. The nervousness came across to me as her not being that good at working the cash register, yet. Do you want to give the perception to people that you are a Trainee or that you are the Professional?

You are the Expert! Communicate that Way

To be the professional, you want to exude self-confidence when you present to groups, speak to individuals in a one-on-one fashion, and when you lead people. That way, the outside appearance matches the inside competence.

The Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Class Eliminates Public Speaking Fear

To overcome public speaking fear, break the skill into component parts and master each part. Fearless Presentations^® helps each presenter have a series of public speaking successes by changing the way that we PREPARE for a presentation. Our step-by-step process makes writing and delivering presentations much easier. Once you have a series of success after success after success with zero failures in between, the fear of public speaking fades away… just like the fear of driving on the freeway faded after a few successes.

July and August Fearless Presentations Classes

admin — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:25:44 +0000

July and August Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Classes

2011 July 7-8 Detroit MI

2011 July 12-13 Phoenix AZ

2011 July 14-15 Los Angeles CA

2011 July 19-20 Kansas City MO

2011 July 21-22 Washington DC

2011 July 26-27 Atlanta GA

2011 July 28-29 Houston TX

2011 Aug 11-12 Indianapolis IN

2011 Aug 15-16 Dallas TX

2011 Aug 18-19 Miami FL

2011 Aug 23-24 Boston MA

2011 Aug 25-26 Baltimore MD

2011 Aug 25-26 Philadelphia PA

2011 Aug 30-31 Seattle WA

Click and of the links above for details about or to register for any of these public speaking seminars.

July and August Fearless Presentations Classes

Doug Staneart — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 15:25:44 +0000

July and August Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Classes

2011 July 7-8 Detroit MI

2011 July 12-13 Phoenix AZ

2011 July 14-15 Los Angeles CA

2011 July 19-20 Kansas City MO

2011 July 21-22 Washington DC

2011 July 26-27 Atlanta GA

2011 July 28-29 Houston TX

2011 Aug 11-12 Indianapolis IN

2011 Aug 15-16 Dallas TX

2011 Aug 18-19 Miami FL

2011 Aug 23-24 Boston MA

2011 Aug 25-26 Baltimore MD

2011 Aug 25-26 Philadelphia PA

2011 Aug 30-31 Seattle WA

Click and of the links above for details about or to register for any of these public speaking seminars.

Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Course Helps Advance Careers In New York City

Doug Staneart — Sat, 28 May 2011 15:35:35 +0000

Class participants showed great interest in advancing their careers at the Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Course class recently in New York City. New York has long been considered the “melting pot” of America. But despite having participants from several states in the U.S., India and Brazil, all were interested in how improving public speaking skills could advance their careers. One participant owns a global business consulting company and needed to improve her ability to speak publicly about her company. Another has a new position in sales and needed help becoming more clear and concise in sales presentations. Still another will actually be making a presentation to the senior leadership in his company regarding his promotion.

How does one class address all these needs? Fearless Presentations is about so much more than anxiety in public speaking. The class deals with using personal examples, how to be persuasive, impromptu speaking, and to write a speech, power point tips, enthusiasm and energy and how to be impactful with your audience. Josh who completed the class in New York said, “The class took a novice speaker and developed a semi-advanced speaker in just 2 days!” Janet commented, “Thank you so very very much. I have taken plenty of classes through American Management Association as well as the Horizon Institute and this was by far one of the best classes I have taken.”

Rick Highsmith is a Senior Instructor with The Leader’s Institute. He is the author of the book, Squish Creativity Like a Bug.

Presentation Skills Class can Build Self-Confidence in Other Areas as Well

admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 17:15:33 +0000

Public Speaking Confidence is Seen by Others as Competence

Public speaking skills or presentation skills will often lead to greater esteem from coworkers and peers, so when up-and-coming leaders and managers focus on building self-confidence in public speaking, that same confidence often spills over into other areas as well. When a person speaks with poise and confidence, the listeners often promote the speaker to a position of being an expert in whatever topic the speaker is presenting. As a result, once the speaker begins to realize how others see him/her, the speaker begins to see himself/herself differently as well. An audience will always judge a speakers competence by the confidence that he or she portrays.

I try to never use politicians as examples, but a few recent political examples come to mind. In 2002, Barack Obama was asked to speak at the Democrat’s convention, and the crowd went wild when he spoke. He was the young, up-and-coming leader of the party. At the time, he had practiced law a few years, been an attorney for ACORN for a few years, and was recently elected to the Illinois House of Representatives, but because of the way that he spoke, the audience saw him has being a competent leader. (I’ll let you be the judge as to whether they made the correct choice.) In recent weeks, Donald Trump and Herman Cain have jumped into the fray and developed loyal followers from their speeches. Cain was the CEO of Godfathers Pizza, and he’s been a radio talk show host for a while. At a recent speech, political commentators were amazed when Cain “Ad Libbed” an entire speech, meaning that he delivered his presentation without any notes. His confidence is winning followers over.

Public Speaking Fear Causes Missed Opportunities

Self consciousness or public speaking fear causes a speaker to hesitate when opportunities present themselves. That risk of failure causes people to pause and say, “I wonder if I should say something here…?” That moment of hesitation is typically all that a more confident person needs to get noticed in a positive way. Later, the person who hesitates will likely kick himself saying, “That was my idea! I should have said something.”

I remember when I was first starting out in the business world, I worked for a big oil company, and the a big problem with government paperwork was being discussed at a staff meeting. Because I was new to the group, I didn’t have the preconceived notions that the others at the table had. The solution seemed simple and easy, but because I was so new, I paused. The discussion continued, and the more that each person contributed, the more that my idea looked pretty good. But I still kept silent. One of the directors who was in the room, Mary Lou, thought for a second and told the group a simple solution that was really, really close to the idea that I had. That idea was implemented, and Mary Lou was a hero. A couple of years later, when the price of oil dropped and over 300 people were laid off, Mary Lou was one of the few who were kept. Executives look for people who contribute good ideas that create value for the company.

Public Speaking Training Classes Can Help

When participants attend public speaking classes or presentation skills courses (good ones anyway), the complete a series of successful presentations over and over. Once they have these successes, future presentations become easier. The risk associated with presenting is lowered, so these speakers tend to hesitate less when opportunities present themselves. When confidence in speaking is paired with competence in your field, people around you begin to see you as the expert. You become more valuable to your company.

Attend a public speaking class, a good presentations skills class, and you will increase your success in many different areas.

Upcoming Presentation Skills Classes

admin — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:11:09 +0000

Public speaking training is, by far, the most lucrative and rewarding type of training that a person can attend. Leaders who have great public speaking skills get promoted faster, have higher esteem from coworkers, and earn over 30% more income, on average, than people who feel public speaking fear.

Want to be a fearless public speaker? We have a number of upcoming 2-Day Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Classes coming up in cities all over the US, Canada, and Europe.

Upcoming Classes: 2-Day Public Speaking Seminar for beginner and intermediate speakers. Tuition is $997/person, $947 each for two, $897 for three or more.

2011 Jun 2-3 Cincinnati, OH — The Cincinnatian

2011 Jun 9-10 San Francisco, CA — Westin Airport

2011 Jun 13-14 Tampa, FL — Quorum Hotel

2011 Jun 16-17 New York, NY — Park Central Hotel

2011 Jun 23-24 Chicago, IL — Four Points Sheraton Rush St.

2011 July 7-8 Detroit, MI — Westin Airport

2011 July 12-13 Phoenix, AZ — Hilton Airport

2011 July 14-15 Los Angeles, CA — Westin Airport

2011 July 19-20 Kansas City, MO — Westin Crown Center

2011 July 21-22 Washington, DC — St. Gregory Hotel

2011 July 26-27 Atlanta, GA — Westin Peachtree Plaza

2011 July 28-29 Houston, TX — Sheraton IAH

2011 Aug 11-12 Indianapolis, IN — Sheraton Indianapolis

2011 Aug 15-16 Dallas, TX — Westin DFW

2011 Aug 18-19 Miami, FL — DoubleTree Surfcomber

2011 Aug 23-24 Boston, MA — Hilton Financial District

2011 Aug 25-26 Baltimore, MD — Sheraton BWI

2011 Aug 25-26 Philadelphia, PA — Hilton Airport

2011 Aug 30-31 Seattle, WA — Hilton Downtown

2011 Sept 8-9 Columbus, OH — Four Points Sheraton Airport

2011 Sept 13-14 Chicago, IL — Four Points Sheraton Rush St.

2011 Sept 15-16 New York, NY — Park Central Hotel

2011 Sept 20-21 San Diego, CA — DoubleTree Downtown

2011 Sept 22-23 San Francisco, CA — Westin Airport

2011 Sept 27-28 Austin, TX — DoubleTree I-35

… I’d Like More Information.

To register by phone or for more information, call us toll-free at 1-800-872-7830 or complete the form below.

First Name * Last Name *

Email * Phone *

Company

Address

City, ST Zip

Location

Free Presentation Assessment: Let us know which of the key areas below would be most important to you improving your performance as a speaker:

Reduce Public Speaking Nervousness
Be more Clear and Concise
I Want to Influence People, Persuade Better
Communicate Better in One-on-One Situations
Command an Audience Easier
Think and Speak on My Feet Better
Market My Ideas Better
Design a Good Presentation Better
Give Speeches without Notes
Be Able to Practice Less
Add Impact to Presentations
Add Energy to Presentations
Design PowerPoint Better
Deliver PowerPoint Better

I’d Like to Register for Fearless Presentations^®.

Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Seminar

Priority No-Risk Registration Form

YES! Count me in.

“This was a great public speaking class. I was very anxious about being here before the class started, but the brochure was true to its word. The environment was friendly and non-threatening which greatly helped my learning experience.” – Ruth Ann Nelson, Denver, CO

“This is an excellent program to help tap the hidden potential within any speaker. I actually discovered that I liked the things I feared the most – for example, the question and answer period and impromptu speaking.” – Susan Shiflett, Denver, CO

“This was absolutely an excellent class! It was much more fun, informative, and productive than I could have ever expected.” – Nichole Kendall, Los Angeles, CA

“This program was presented very well! It really simplified the public speaking process, and the enthusiasm of the instructors made learning easy. ” – Lucas Wenneker, Chicago, IL

“This program helped me realize that presenting can be fun and not scary. I look forward to opportunities to speak now.” – Tiffany May, Chicago, IL

(Read More Quotes from Past Class Members)

Upcoming Presentation Skills Classes

Doug Staneart — Thu, 26 May 2011 16:11:09 +0000

Want to be a fearless public speaker? We have a number of upcoming 2-Day Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Classes coming up in cities all over the US, Canada, and Europe.

Upcoming Classes: 2-Day Public Speaking Seminar for beginner and intermediate speakers. Tuition is $997/person, $947 each for two, $897 for three or more.

2011 Jun 2-3 Cincinnati, OH — The Cincinnatian

2011 Jun 9-10 San Francisco, CA — Westin Airport

2011 Jun 13-14 Tampa, FL — Quorum Hotel

2011 Jun 16-17 New York, NY — Park Central Hotel

2011 Jun 23-24 Chicago, IL — Four Points Sheraton Rush St.

2011 July 7-8 Detroit, MI — Westin Airport

2011 July 12-13 Phoenix, AZ — Hilton Airport

2011 July 14-15 Los Angeles, CA — Westin Airport

2011 July 19-20 Kansas City, MO — Westin Crown Center

2011 July 21-22 Washington, DC — St. Gregory Hotel

2011 July 26-27 Atlanta, GA — Westin Peachtree Plaza

2011 July 28-29 Houston, TX — Sheraton IAH

2011 Aug 11-12 Indianapolis, IN — Sheraton Indianapolis

2011 Aug 15-16 Dallas, TX — Westin DFW

2011 Aug 18-19 Miami, FL — DoubleTree Surfcomber

2011 Aug 23-24 Boston, MA — Hilton Financial District

2011 Aug 25-26 Baltimore, MD — Sheraton BWI

2011 Aug 25-26 Philadelphia, PA — Hilton Airport

2011 Aug 30-31 Seattle, WA — Hilton Downtown

2011 Sept 8-9 Columbus, OH — Four Points Sheraton Airport

2011 Sept 13-14 Chicago, IL — Four Points Sheraton Rush St.

2011 Sept 15-16 New York, NY — Park Central Hotel

2011 Sept 20-21 San Diego, CA — DoubleTree Downtown

2011 Sept 22-23 San Francisco, CA — Westin Airport

2011 Sept 27-28 Austin, TX — DoubleTree I-35

… I’d Like More Information.

To register by phone or for more information, call us toll-free at 1-800-872-7830 or complete the form below.

First Name * Last Name *

Email * Phone *

Company

Address

City, ST Zip

Location

Free Presentation Assessment: Let us know which of the key areas below would be most important to you improving your performance as a speaker:

Reduce Public Speaking Nervousness
Be more Clear and Concise
I Want to Influence People, Persuade Better
Communicate Better in One-on-One Situations
Command an Audience Easier
Think and Speak on My Feet Better
Market My Ideas Better
Design a Good Presentation Better
Give Speeches without Notes
Be Able to Practice Less
Add Impact to Presentations
Add Energy to Presentations
Design PowerPoint Better
Deliver PowerPoint Better

I’d Like to Register for Fearless Presentations^®.

Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Seminar

Priority No-Risk Registration Form

YES! Count me in.

“This was a great public speaking class. I was very anxious about being here before the class started, but the brochure was true to its word. The environment was friendly and non-threatening which greatly helped my learning experience.” – Ruth Ann Nelson, Denver, CO

“This is an excellent program to help tap the hidden potential within any speaker. I actually discovered that I liked the things I feared the most – for example, the question and answer period and impromptu speaking.” – Susan Shiflett, Denver, CO

“This was absolutely an excellent class! It was much more fun, informative, and productive than I could have ever expected.” – Nichole Kendall, Los Angeles, CA

“This program was presented very well! It really simplified the public speaking process, and the enthusiasm of the instructors made learning easy. ” – Lucas Wenneker, Chicago, IL

“This program helped me realize that presenting can be fun and not scary. I look forward to opportunities to speak now.” – Tiffany May, Chicago, IL

(Read More Quotes from Past Class Members)

Underlying Causes of Public Speaking Fear?

admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Questioner:	Sabrina
Category:	Public Speaking
Private:	No
Subject:	Underlying Causes
Question:	QUESTION: Doug, I was wondering what you thought were some causes of the fear of public speaking, such as previous traumatic experiences or possibly other fears such as the fear of judgement that cause the fear of public speaking. Also, what do you know about people’s acceptance of this fear, and if many people cannot admit their fear to others? ANSWER: Sabrina, the cause of public speaking fear (any fear for that matter) is pretty simple… Anytime we try something new (any new skill whether it’s learning to ride a bike when we’re 4 or 5 years old, learning to drive a car when you are 15, or learning how to use a computer or new smartphone, etc.) we will have quite a bit of nervousness. If during the practice, we have what we consider to be a success, our confidence grows. If we have what we consider to be a failure, our nervousness increases. The more times that we attempt something and have one of the challenges, the more difficult it becomes to attempt the same skill in the future. So if someone doesn’t attempt to speak in front of a group very often, and the person has a challenge in front of a group, he/she will have a tougher time speaking in the future. The only way to overcome this fear is to replace the “perceived failures” with successes. For instance, when we teach our Fearless Presentations class, we start each presenter with a fairly simplistic presentation to deliver in the beginning, and then we add more to it in future presentations. So every time the speaker is presenting, he/she is building on past successes to build confidence. It works every time. People sometime do have a tough time admitting fear to others, because they think it makes them look weak. As a result, they tend to avoid opportunities that could cause this fear to manifest itself. As a result, they will often pass up opportunities succeed. Doug Staneart ———- FOLLOW-UP ———- QUESTION: Thanks so much for your reply! I was also wondering if you that these “failures” are not only leading to that specific fear, but also to a judgement of ourselves that we are therefore failures, which then can possibly lead to us fearing others judgement of ourselves because of our lowered self-esteem. I am also wondering if possibly other failures other speaking in front of people could possibly cause this fear. Such as a “failure” in another activity which then leads to a fear of people judging you, which will ultimately lead to a fear of public speaking. I also wonder if in these classes where you teach people how to get over their fears, whether you consider and use this as an effective way to help them understand and overcome their fear.
Answer:	Sabrina, sorry for the delay in responding. I just realized that you asked a follow up question (I thought it was a duplicate of the original question.) Yes, fear not only comes from true “failures” but also “perceived failures.” Once they occur, they will make self-confidence and self-esteem fall (at least a little). A perceived failure in one area can cause overall self-esteem to fall as well. For instance, when something traumatic like a physical attack or accident occurs to some people, they retreat and stop participating in other activities. However, success or perceived success has an opposite reaction. I find that when people get a good public speaking coach and gain confidence in presentation skills that the self-confidence spills over into other areas of their life as well and self-confidence and self-esteem grows dramatically. Many people who complete formal presentation training with a good coach tend to accomplish a lot of fantastic things in a short period of time. Many get promoted (sometimes two and three levels in a year or so), gain a lot of prestige and esteem from others, and more. Doug Staneart America’s Fearless Presentations Coach

Public Speaking Class Participants In St. Louis Workshop Move Toward Becoming Fearless Presenters

admin — Sat, 07 May 2011 14:04:45 +0000

The Fearless Presentations public speaking workshop was held in St. Louis, Missouri where participants increased their presentation skills. The two day public speaking class focuses on diminishing the fear of public speaking while working to give an easy way to prepare a presentation that will relieve stress and at the same time streamline the preparation process. Many people have trouble preparing because the fear of making the presentation handicaps the efforts. This unique class begins by addressing the fear directly and then builds on that foundation to give each person the tools needed to prepare a concise, reliable and memorable presentation. During the class each participant gives 6 presentations that last from 45 seconds to 6 minutes. During the presentations they get to put into practice the material covered and receive positive coaching from the instructor.

Many people think that public speaking is an art reserved for a few gifted people. But the truth is that anyone can improve their ability to do public presentations. Not everyone will become professionals, but everyone can learn what is necessary to help them become more competent in their ability and more confident in their delivery. The more introverted person can use their reliability and desire to get along with others to make great presentations and overcome they lack of boldness by understanding that people don’t perceive their nervousness and by effective preparation and practice. The shy, logic-oriented person can use their organization skills and attention to detail to prepare solid messages while overcoming their inclination to give to much information by beginning with the audience in mind and not writing their presentation out word of word.

The outgoing, people-person learns that they can keep the fun and energy while at the same time adding more organization to their presentations by using a structured preparation plan and making sure do the necessary research to be an expert on the subject while refusing to just “wing it.” The more dominant outgoing person can prepare well and use their innate confidence while making sure they don’t risk alienating the audience by focusing on the desired results they are looking for and preparing with the audience in mind.

Great public speaking is not the result of personality or inborn qualities, but is a skill anyone can learn and be effective at. The 9 people at the Fearless Presentations workshop in St. Louis learned that by applying some simple principle they can improve their presentation abilities and continue to grow in their effectiveness in this arena.

Public Speaking Class Schedule

admin — Sun, 01 May 2011 00:03:51 +0000

Want to be a fearless public speaker? We have a number of upcoming 2-Day Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Classes coming up in cities all over the US, Canada, and Europe.

Upcoming Classes: 2-Day Public Speaking Seminar for beginner and intermediate speakers. Tuition is $997/person, $947 each for two, $897 for three or more.

2011 May 5-6 Miami, FL — DoubleTree Surfcomber

2011 May 10-11 Boston, MA — Hilton Financial District

2011 May 12-13 Denver, CO — Hyatt Downtown

2011 May 19-21 Dallas Boot Camp — Westin DFW [3-Day Boot Camp, $499/person]

2011 May 23-24 Las Vegas — The Orleans Hotel

2011 May 26-27 Chicago Boot Camp — Hyatt [3-Day Boot Camp, $499/person]

2011 Jun 2-3 Cincinnati, OH — The Cincinnatian

2011 Jun 9-10 San Francisco, CA — Westin Airport

2011 Jun 13-14 Tampa, FL — Quorum Hotel

2011 Jun 16-17 New York, NY — Park Central Hotel

2011 Jun 23-24 Chicago, IL — Four Points Sheraton Rush St.

2011 July 7-8 Detroit, MI — Westin Airport

2011 July 12-13 Phoenix, AZ — Hilton Airport

2011 July 14-15 Los Angeles, CA — Westin Airport

2011 July 19-20 Kansas City, MO — Westin Crown Center

2011 July 21-22 Washington, DC — St. Gregory Hotel

2011 July 26-27 Atlanta, GA — Westin Peachtree Plaza

2011 July 28-29 Houston, TX — Sheraton IAH

2011 Aug 11-12 Indianapolis, IN — Sheraton Indianapolis

2011 Aug 15-16 Dallas, TX — Westin DFW

2011 Aug 18-19 Miami, FL — DoubleTree Surfcomber

2011 Aug 23-24 Boston, MA — Hilton Financial District

2011 Aug 25-26 Baltimore, MD — Sheraton BWI

2011 Aug 25-26 Philadelphia, PA — Hilton Airport

2011 Aug 30-31 Seattle, WA — Hilton Downtown

2011 Sept 8-9 Columbus, OH — Four Points Sheraton Airport

2011 Sept 13-14 Chicago, IL — Four Points Sheraton Rush St.

2011 Sept 15-16 New York, NY — Park Central Hotel

2011 Sept 20-21 San Diego, CA — DoubleTree Downtown

2011 Sept 22-23 San Francisco, CA — Westin Airport

2011 Sept 27-28 Austin, TX — DoubleTree I-35

… I’d Like More Information.

To register by phone or for more information, call us toll-free at 1-800-872-7830 or complete the form below.

First Name * Last Name *

Email * Phone *

Company

Address

City, ST Zip

Location

Free Presentation Assessment: Let us know which of the key areas below would be most important to you improving your performance as a speaker:

Reduce Public Speaking Nervousness
Be more Clear and Concise
I Want to Influence People, Persuade Better
Communicate Better in One-on-One Situations
Command an Audience Easier
Think and Speak on My Feet Better
Market My Ideas Better
Design a Good Presentation Better
Give Speeches without Notes
Be Able to Practice Less
Add Impact to Presentations
Add Energy to Presentations
Design PowerPoint Better
Deliver PowerPoint Better

I’d Like to Register for Fearless Presentations^®.

Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Seminar

Priority No-Risk Registration Form

YES! Count me in. Tuition is just

$997 for an individual

$947 each for two people

$897 each for three or more people.

We have three payment options to fit any budget. Register below with one easy payment via credit card, or break up your tuition into either three monthly payments with one click. If you’d like to be invoiced, please call us toll-free at 1-800-872-7830 for details.

*Most classes require participants to guarantee registrations with a credit card before a registration can be completed. Invoices must be paid no later than 30 days after the completion of the class or the credit card on file will be charged for the tuition. All classes are limited enrollment and registrations are processed on a first come, first served basis. Tuition includes a non-refundable $100 registration fee. Because the class space is limited to just 10 people, no refunds or transfers will be given within 14-days of class start date. Participants may transfer to a future class after a $100 transfer fee is received in our office as long as at least 14 days advance notice is given by participant. No-shows and/or participants who cancel within 14 days of the class start date will forfeit all tuition paid.

Tuition Includes

The absolute best 2-Day Presentation Course on the Planet!

The Fearless Presentations^® printed manual with templates and worksheets for designing good presentations.

Two (2) FREE telephone coaching sessions with one of our presentation experts.

A $500 discount on the Public Speaking Secrets Workshop as a Fearless Presentations^® Graduate.

A $1000 discount on the World-Class Speaking Skills coaching program as a Fearless Presentations® Graduate.

Plus a BETTER-THAN-YOUR-MONEY-BACK-GUARANTEE: If, by lunch time the first day, you feel like you haven’t already received your money’s worth of information and training or if you feel that that we are not delivering on the promises that we have made on our website or in our marketing materials, you can choose to turn in your materials, skip the rest of the program, and get a FULL 100% refund.

“This was a great public speaking class. I was very anxious about being here before the class started, but the brochure was true to its word. The environment was friendly and non-threatening which greatly helped my learning experience.” – Ruth Ann Nelson, Denver, CO

“This is an excellent program to help tap the hidden potential within any speaker. I actually discovered that I liked the things I feared the most – for example, the question and answer period and impromptu speaking.” – Susan Shiflett, Denver, CO

“This was absolutely an excellent class! It was much more fun, informative, and productive than I could have ever expected.” – Nichole Kendall, Los Angeles, CA

“This program was presented very well! It really simplified the public speaking process, and the enthusiasm of the instructors made learning easy. ” – Lucas Wenneker, Chicago, IL

“This program helped me realize that presenting can be fun and not scary. I look forward to opportunities to speak now.” – Tiffany May, Chicago, IL

(Read More Quotes from Past Class Members)

Public Speaking Class Participants Sell Their Message in Fearless Presentations in Baltimore

Doug Staneart — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 21:01:11 +0000

Public speaking class participants from around the Greater Washington DC area came to the Fearless Presentations (R) seminar in Baltimore to improve their ability to sell their message. Every time you speak in public you have a goal for that presentation. In the Baltimore Fearless Presentations (R) class there were many goals. One participant wanted to convince the board of his non-profit agency to expand their mission internationally. Another was seeking help with a speech to a national association on how to get their message out through social media. And another was looking for ways to improve an internal training course.

Fearless Presentations does much more than reduce your public speaking fear. The Baltimore class learned how to be clear and concise, while adding impact to their presentations. So the participant who was addressing his board learned how the use of analogy could help carry his message. The woman who will be speaking to a national association learned the power of personal stories. And the internal trainer learned multiple ways to add enthusiasm and energy to her presentations.

Whatever issues are troubling you in public speaking, can be answered in Fearless Presentations (R). Join us in a city near you soon. If you do you’ll have a smile on your face like these folks in Baltimore.

Rick Highsmith

The Leader’s Institute

Free Public Speaking Fear Tele-Seminar

admin — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 20:58:35 +0000

Click here to register for free 30 minute tele-seminar covering…

An Overview of Fearless Presentations
10 Ways to reduce public speaking fear (today)
Big preparation mistakes that actually cause nervousness (versus reducing it — Ex.: Having Notes in Front of You).

This Tele-Seminar is absolutely free to our friends and fans, but we can only accept the first 25 people because space in the teleseminar is limited. Click the link above to register, but since space is so limited, please don’t register unless you can make it to the seminar.

LIFE Foundation Improves Communication through Fearless Presentations® Class in Arlington, Virginia

Doug Staneart — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:18:08 +0000

Recently the Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) contracted for a public speaking class at their corporate headquarters in Arlington, VA. LIFE is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping consumers make smart insurance decisions to safeguard their families’ financial futures. Their goal is to help consumers better understand how insurance fits within their overall financial plans. LIFE also seeks to remind people of the important role insurance professionals perform in helping families, businesses, and individuals find the insurance products that best fit their needs.

Because their mission is education, public speaking skills are vitally important. Faisa Stafford, COO said, “Our group really enjoyed having the class and we all learnt so much. I may be interested in having you do one-on-one coaching with staff to continue the learning that began in the class. Thank you so much.”

Rick Highsmith is a Senior Instructor for The Leader’s Institute® and has taught thousands of students to improve their public speaking ability.

The King’s Speech is a Fantastic Movie about Presentation Coaching and Public Speaking Fear

admin — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:37:04 +0000

My wife and daughter went to see The King’s Speech a few weeks ago, and they couldn’t stop talking about how great it was. So, after a few weeks of hearing about this movie, my daughter (who is nine by the way) convinced me to go see it again with her. I was amazed at how good this movie was. It is the true story of how King George VI of England (father of Queen Elizabeth) successful overcame a traumatic speech impediment (caused by public speaking fear) in order to give a fantastic speech just as England was entering World War II. England was in a desperate situation having just a couple of decades prior already participated in the First World War, Hitler had just declared war against them, and the new king was crowned because his older brother had abdicated his thrown in order to marry a divorced bride from the US. Anyone would have been terrified to give such an important speech while the world was listening, but King George VI had a stutter that became more pronounced when he became more nervous.

The movie is about a “speech therapist” (really a presentation coach) who helped him diminish his fear and reduce his impediment dramatically. A very heartwarming story that was extremely well acted. You will absolutely love this film.

Public Speaking Class in Atlanta helps Professionals Eliminate Public Speaking Fear

admin — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 17:13:52 +0000

Last week, I flew into Atlanta, Georgia to teach a Fearless Presentations® public speaking course for a fantastic group of professionals. In the program, we had a doctor who was just elected to the Board of Directors at his local hospital, a couple of electrical engineers, a woman who designs iPad aps for a huge Fortune 500 company, a woman who calculates royalties for musical artists, and a professional trainer who works with insurance agents. A group like this really points out something that a lot of us really forget about public speaking fear — presentation fear or stage fright is normal, and even professionals who speak everyday can sometimes fall prey to the butterflies in the stomach and sweaty palms.

These professionals, however, have begun a journey to eliminate that public speaking fear. We covered 10 specific techniques that anyone can do, right now, to reduce nervousness, and we showed these professionals how the way that we design and deliver a presentation can either add to or eliminate public speaking fear. (And we had a blast in the process!)

If you’d like to join these folks in the fearless journey, register for an upcoming public speaking class at http://www.fearlesspresentations.com and make sure and like our Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/fearlesspresentations.

Dump The Data and Tell Me A Story

admin — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 17:15:21 +0000

Fearless-what every presenter wants to be. Overcoming public speaking jitters is often as simple as dumping the data, and telling stories. Stacking your brain with statistics, or dumping them onto a slide guarantees one thing – your audience will disconnect. However, when a speaker turns boring statistics into real life stories he or she makes the audience sit up and listen, “appreciate” not “tolerate” his presentation.

During our two day program, Fearless Presentations, one participant said, “I like how telling “the story” actually helped get the information out to the audience. It made giving a presentation in front of a group easier.” Using that technique, her stories brought out the best in her as a presenter – her personality.

My personal rule during presentations is – every set of data deserves a good story – a story that you can claim, and bring to life. A really good story helps your audience understand the data. Drawing on shared emotions and experiences, stories creates rapport, interest in your subject, and buy in. The more stories you tell – the more persuasive your speech becomes, and the more relaxed and powerful you become as a speaker. If you want the audience to listen and believe you – tell the story behind the facts. I learned this early on as a young news reporter, and practice it every time I speak.

Dump the data – tell me a story.

Statistics are just a bunch of easily forgotten numbers, unless you give them a face and heart

Example: Pearl Harbor Day

I looked down at the assignment in my hands “Pearl Harbor Day – Veteran.” I wanted to take a different angle. I wanted to explain the data through the eyes of a Japanese-American, county commissioner. My news director liked the idea, and after much persuasion, Commissioner George Shiozowa, agreed. No data set could tell the

Soldiers with guns, searched our house, taking family documents and photos, all the kitchen knives and my pearl-handled pocketknife, a treasured gift from my uncle. We hoped it was over. We were wrong. They loaded us like cattle into the backs of trucks and took us away. I was so frightened I did not speak for days. Finally we reached the Idaho desert. We were penned like animals behind barbed wire in the Idaho desert, while my brothers fought the Japanese.”

If you call me twenty years from now I will not recall the facts, that 2,117 Americans died at Pearl Harbor, or that 120,000 Japanese-Americans, men, women and children, were locked behind barbed wire in the desert. (I had to re-research those facts.) I will, however, be able to tell you the story of a ten year old Japanese-American boy who was taken prisoner by his own country because he looked like the enemy.

Behind every group of facts, data set, or event there is a powerful story. Look inside your “life catalogue” flip through the pages. Whatever principle you want to express – there is a story or example for it, a human look at otherwise heartless information.

Your personal stories will bring richness to your presentation, and understanding to your audience. You are the only one who can tell them, because you have lived them. Your stories are unique, interesting and a powerful way to make your point, and persuade your audience to your point of view. If you want to “wow” your audience – tell more stories. By Connie Timpson/ Sr. Instructor/Performance Coach/The Leader’s Institute

Public Speaking Worries – Handling Questions & Answers

Doug Staneart — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 03:07:58 +0000

One expectation frightens people preparing for a public presentation above all others. The fear is, “Even if I master the material someone will ask me a question and I will look stupid.” Here is everything you need to know about handling Q&A. Keep these tips in mind and you can check that fear off your list.

1. Questions are your Friends. When giving a presentation It is extremely important to know what your audience is thinking. If you aren’t getting any feedback from them while you are talking, you have no idea how the information is being received. Questions let you know if you are moving too fast or conversely too slowly. A question informs you if you are clearly expressing your ideas. Rather than avoiding questions, try seeking them.

2. Body Language. There are two actions you can take to encourage questions. The first is physical. Stand still and raise your hand (like you had to do in elementary school). Secondly ask, “What are you questions?” The appropriate verbiage is “what,” not “are there any” questions? The first implies you know the audience has questions and simply asks them to express them. The second calls in to doubt whether any questions exist.

3. Prime the Pump. It may surprise you to learn that people are hesitant to ask questions. The audience members do not want to appear “dumb” by asking an inappropriate question. You can help them get started by asking yourself a question and then answering it. You might say, “At this point I am often asked why…?” You then answer your own question. Next you say to the group, “Who has the next question?” This technique makes it easier for people in the audience to ask their questions.

4. I Don’t Know, But. When (not if) you are asked a question you don’t know the answer to, simply, honestly reply – “I don’t know.” This is always the correct response when asked for information you do not have. Remember that fear of looking stupid, I mentioned at the beginning of this article? The absolute best way to look stupid is to fake an answer. The important tag follows “I don’t know” and that is “But I will find out and give the information to you at (specific time).” At a press conference the President has to know the answer to every single question they are asked. He does not have the luxury you have of saying, “I don’t know.” You do have the ability and when expressed calmly you will appear articulate and professional.

5. Hostile Questions. Now that we’ve gotten this far I need to let you know sometimes people will try and make you look foolish with a question. The agenda in their question may not be readily apparent to you. When you sense hostility, here are two things you can do. First Do not respond in kind. When you are verbally attacked you must never retaliate. Since I mentioned elementary school in Tip 2, let’s go back to the playground at recess. When two boys got in a tussle, what did the rest of the children do? On the playgrounds of my childhood everybody would step back. Someone might yell, “Fight!” But only the teachers would step in to break it up. If during your presentation someone “attacks,” you must never allow it to seem like a fight. Do NOT drop the discussion to their level. Second Remain calm and Bridge. Take a deep breath. If you need time repeat the question. Acknowledge any truth in the question and immediately bridge to talk about something positive. Let me give you an example. I have a product and I’m making a sales presentation to a potential client. Someone asks, “Didn’t you lose the contract with XYZ company because of your pathetic customer service?” Ouch! Here is the correct response, “Yes we did lose XYZ as a result of customer service issues. (acknowledge truth) As a result of examining why, we learned our customer service reps did not have access to important technical information. (Bridge) We invested $$$ to upgrade our phone system and integrate informational databases. Last year we received the J.D. Powers award for Outstanding Customer Service.

By practicing these tips you will learn the value of questions from your audience. Your skill as a public speaker will grow, along with your confidence.

Rick Highsmith teaches the Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class and helps participants eliminate public speaking fear. For information about upcoming public speaking seminars, visit www.fearlesspresentations.com.

Upcoming Public Speaking Seminars

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 02:43:01 +0000

Below is a list of our upcoming public speaking classes and presentation seminars. For details about the Fearless Presentations public speaking course or Leaders Institute Leadership Boot Camp, just click either of these links. To register for any of the classes below, just click the REGISTER link for the appropriate seminar.

Upcoming Classes: 2-Day Public Speaking Seminar for beginner and intermediate speakers.

2011 Feb 10-11 Seattle, WA — Hilton Downtown

2011 Feb 10-11 Miami, Florida — Crowne Plaza Hollywood, FL

2011 Feb 17-18 Baltimore, MD — Sheraton BWI

2011 Feb 17-18 Boston, Massachusetts — Hilton Financial District

2011 Feb 24-25 Indianapolis, IN — Sheraton Indianapolis

2011 Mar 3-4 Manhattan, New York — Park Central Hotel

2011 Mar 10-11 Orlando, FL — Lake Eve Resort

2011 Mar 17-18 San Antonio, TX — The Gunter Hotel

2011 Mar 17-18 Columbus, OH — Hilton Garden Inn Airport

2011 Mar 22-23 San Francisco, California — Westin Airport

2011 Mar 24-25 San Diego, CA — DoubleTree Downtown

2011 Mar 24-25 Chicago, Illinois — Four Points Sheraton Rush St.

2011 Apr 7-8 Minneapolis, Minnesota — Embassy Suites MSP

2011 Apr 12-13 Hartford, Connecticut

2011 Apr 14-15 Toronto, Ontario — Novotel Toronto Centre

2011 Apr 28-29 St. Louis, Missouri — Embassy Suites St. Charles

2011 May 12-13 Denver, Colorado — Hyatt Downtown

2011 May 19-21 (Boot Camp) — Westin DFW

2011 May 26-27 Las Vegas — The Orleans

2011 Jun 9-10 Cincinnati — The Cincinnatian

2011 Jun 16-17 Tampa, Florida — Quorum Hotel

Fearless Presentations Class Comes To The Aid of 11 People in Phoenix, AZ

admin — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:46:16 +0000

11 people participated in the Fearless Presentations class held in Phoenix, AZ, on January 20-21, 2011. This was a great class of exceptional individuals who came to conquer their fear of public speaking, as well as learn an effective way to prepare and present with impact and enthusiasm. The 11 ranged from a tire company to health care systems to credit card security. The wide range of experience and personalities added to the fast-paced learning experience. Each person had great ability and by overcoming the fear of public speaking will be able to do and accomplish more.

During the two days of training each person got the opportunity to present in front of the group, received coaching, and shared ideas on making presentations more interesting from the audience’s point of view. Often times we prepare by just making some notes, or preparing some words almost in random order. We feel the pressure and prepare in a way that is least effective. When we have done the prep we still feel unsure and that adds to our insecurities and nervousness.

During the class we addressed public speaking fear, but also shared an easy way to make preparation effective and fear reducing. This technique reduces fear, makes preparation much easier and, the best part; it makes your presentations fun and informative. The key is using your strengths to help the audience receive the information in a way that connects with them.

Congratulations to the 11 outstanding people that chose the Fearless Presentations class in Phoenix to help them with their public speaking needs. Their audiences will see and appreciate the difference!

PowerPoint: How to Deliver PowerPoint Presentations Designed by Someone Else

admin — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 06:52:52 +0000

By Doug Staneart, Author of The Fearless Presentations Seminar

Narrating PowerPoint Presentations designed by someone else can be very challenging. In fact, one of the fastest ways to increase public speaking fear and make your PowerPoint presentations sound canned and… well boring, is to try to deliver a PowerPoint slideshow that someone else designed for you. This doesn’t mean that you can’t deliver PowerPoint slide decks that someone else created. It just means that when you do, you’ll probably be more nervous and have less of a natural flow than what you’d normally have when you stand up and deliver a speech. Remember that a presentation or a speech is just a conversation with your audience, so if you create the speech, you’ll be speaking in your own words. When someone else creates a speech for you, you will feel more uncomfortable and the public speaking nervousness will increase.

If you remember the movie Roxanne or the play about Cyrano de Bergerac, the two male characters, Christian and Cyrano are both in love with Roxanne, but Christian sees himself as being inarticulate and Cyrano sees himself as being ugly. Christian gets Cyrano to write love letters for him, which works pretty well until Roxanne finds out who actually wrote them. In the movies, Christian is portrayed as a dunce, but according to the original play, Christian is a brave and intelligent warrior who is just nervous. Christian is the kind of person that Roxanne would have fallen in love with if he had just used his own words to woo her. But because he was using Cyrano’s verbiage (his slideshow,) it just made Christian even more nervous – not less. Roxanne never got to know the real Christian. Your audiences are the same way. You will feel much more confident if you can communicate your own words to your audience versus trying to manufacture the “right thing to say” about a PowerPoint slide or bullet points that someone else created.

With that in mind, we know that situations will occur where we have no control over the PowerPoint slideshow or any of the visuals really. For instance, if you are a sales associate, and your company requires that you use a standardized PowerPoint presentation when you speak to customers or if someone calls in sick and you have to fill in for them at the last minute, the tips below will help you out tremendously.

Power Point Tips

admin — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 21:11:01 +0000

Power Point Tips: The 10 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

By Doug Staneart

The most frequently asked topic that we get questions on when we conduct public speaking training is always related to PowerPoint Tips. Because PowerPoint is so powerful, people tend to either get really good at all of the bells and whistles and overwhelm their audience, or they use PowerPoint as a crutch and rely on their slide deck too much making their presentation very boring. Below are the top 10 biggest Power Point Mistakes that we tend to make along with ways to overcome them. (By the way, we cover a whole section on designing PowerPoint Presentation in The Leader’s Institute Leadership Boot Camp.)

1) Designing a “PowerPoint Presentation”: Remember, a presentation is a verbal communication to your audience that may or may not use visual aids. PowerPoint is just ONE type of visual aid that can be used to further explain or clarify your presentation. If you focus entirely on this one type of visual aid without putting an emphasis on what you are actually saying, your presentation will tend to have a disconnected flow and will be difficult for the audience to follow. Instead, design your presentation and get good at delivering it first. Once you get good at delivering the presentation, then decide what visual aids you might be able to use to help you clarify your points.

2) Too Many PowerPoint Slides: Another big mistake is creating too many slides and using them as a crutch to make sure that we don’t forget anything in our presentation. Slide… Click… Slide… Click… Slide… Click… is a very boring way to deliver a presentation and makes the presenter look unprepared and uninformed about his/her topic. Only add a slide if it helps you better clarify your point.

3) Too Much Data on Your PowerPoint Slides: Your slide deck should be a visual aid to help you explain your point, so if you put too much data on a slide (too much text, too many numbers, or charts and graphs – gasp… Is he saying we can’t use charts and graphs?) you will overwhelm you audience. Your PowerPoint slide should convey a simple concept at a glance. A good rule is what we call 6X6, which means to limit your number of words per line to six and limit your number of lines to about six as well.

4) Overuse of Animation: PowerPoint will do some really cool types of animation, but remember that if you animate something, it should help you clarify your point. Bullet points that fly in, spin around, make sounds, and blink are just a distraction from your message. If you want your audience to follow you step-by-step, you can reveal your bullets one at a time. However, you’ll have more energy as a presenter if you just make your slide appear and physically move to your screen and point to your bullet point when you talk about it.

5) Too Many Busy Charts: (Gasp… He is saying not to use charts and graphs.) For the most part, charts, graphs, and pictures make terrible PowerPoint slides. If the charts or graphs are simple, they can be judiciously used in a slideshow, however if you are graphing total revenue of five different divisions on a quarterly basis for each of your ten major product lines, your graph will be way too busy to understand in a slide. Use a handout instead. If you need a visual aid for it, make a big poster of the graph but in most cases, you can just use the handout itself as the visual aid.

6) Improper Use of Pictures: A picture is worth a 1000 words, but only if the picture is important to your point. Often, we will look at our slide and think, “It seems a little plain…” so we stick a picture in to jazz it up a little. While that is not, in itself, a terrible strategy, sometimes the pictures that we choose cause confusion because it was an afterthought. You could set a small picture on the slide master so that it shows on every slide. That way, since the picture is always there, it doesn’t cause confusion when the text changes. By the way, making a poster of a good picture will add much more impact than a picture on a slide

7) Not Practicing Your Presentation with the Slideshow: Time is getting short, so you send your slide deck to marketing to jazz it up a little. They send you the final copy minutes before you go in front of the group. Everything is perfect in the slideshow, but because you haven’t practiced, your flow is off, and you have to keep clicking the next slide before you start to speak. It just makes you more nervous. Finish your slide deck early and practice with it.
Sitting Down to Deliver Your Presentation: The moment that you sit down and start clicking slides, the PowerPoint deck becomes the authority in the room on the topic and your energy will plummet. Stand between your screen and the audience, and you will be the expert.

9) Read… Click… Read… Click…: If you are doing this one, then I hate to be the one to tell you this, but… You’re Boring! Sorry. I know that hurt, but it’s true. The good news is that if you follow the prior guidelines, this one goes away automatically. So if you are experiencing this, go back and work on the earlier tips.

10) Letting Someone Else Design your Slideshow: Realize that if someone else designs your PowerPoint Slide Deck, it will likely have many of the earlier mistakes in it. You’ll also have a more difficult time delivering it and be more nervous. To combat this, you’ll need to practice your delivery a lot more than if you designed your own presentation, but it can be done. Over time, use the guidelines above to influence the person or people who are designing your slideshow.

Follow these simple guidelines, and your PowerPoint Slides will help you better deliver more powerful presentations. Violate them, and you’ll likely be more nervous and have a more difficult time delivering your presentation.

Doug Staneart is the creator of The Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Class that is offered in major cities all over the United States, Canada, and Europe. Click the link here (http://www.leadersinstitute.com/public-speaking/fearlesspresentations.html) and request information about his presentation course, and he’ll send you a free copy of his book, Fearless Presentations®. His new program, the Entrepreneur Boot Camp, helps small business owners grow their businesses during difficult financial times like a recession.

Individual Coaching – Quickly Boosts Your Public Speaking Skills

Doug Staneart — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:50:41 +0000

Certainly the first step to becoming an accomplished public speaker is to take a comprehensive class. The Leader’s Institute’s Fearless Presentations is an example. The focus is on gaining confidence and learning basic skills. Virtually all participants make dramatic increases in poise, expressiveness and audience involvement. For many people this is sufficient.

Others find that they want more professional skills. They desire to become the person at work who expresses ideas competently, persuasively and seemingly at ease. An advanced class like Public Speaking Secrets, also offered by The Leader’s Institute can move you along that path.

Still others recognize how “world class” speaking skills will enhance their careers. Having taken classroom courses, they realize the importance of individual attention. A one-on-one coaching session can allow them to polish their skills. The entire focus of the expert is on their delivery and/or preparation proficiencies. Extensive use of videotaping and critical analysis reinforces their strengths and objectively evaluates potential weaknesses.

Let me give you an example of the importance of a coach. Think of your favorite sports star. How did he/she reach the incredibly high performance level they routinely displayed in their sport? Certainly inherent skill / talent was important. In Malcom Gladwell’s book, “Outliers,” he proposes it takes 10,000 hours of practice to excel in any endeavor. But the old saw that “practice makes perfect” doesn’t hold up. If you are practicing a skill incorrectly you will never become great.

Remember that sports star I asked you to think of? Someone worked with them. Someone trained and instructed them. They worked with a coach. Excellent public speaking is a skill that requires practice. However, practicing without a coach won’t make you a “star.”

The Leader’s Institute offers you the opportunity to take your public speaking to the highest level. We have a staff or experts ready to coach you, bringing your best game to the business world. Here is a video of a client who just completed a day of coaching.

Richard Highsmith

Senior Instructor

Public Speaking Ideas – Audience Participation Adds Impact- Pt5

admin — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 13:46:42 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact

Part Two

Sound

Have you ever been in a conversation, heard something and interrupted with, “What was that?”

Many would say that sound is one of the most important senses we have. It allows us to listen, of course, but it also serves as an alert, or warning system. It is a special filter that our brains have the capacity to use to help us decide what we want and need to listen to, and what is not as important. Ever sit in a restaurant oblivious to the sounds around you until you catch a simple word from another conversation, your ears perk up, you motion to the person you’re with to be quiet and your strain to catch the conversation you were previously unaware of- all because one word you overheard?

Stop right now, sit back and make take note of all the things you can hear but were previously unaware of, quite interesting. When you are making a presentation your audience has many sounds going on around them, not just what you’re saying. So why not use that to your advantage. Besides your voice engage their hearing in activities that will help reinforce your message.

Hearing a speaker on time management, there was a continuous clicking sound that was almost distracting, until the presenter mentioned the seconds pounding away on a watch. We had all been hearing it, but when we discovered what it was, it reinforced the value of time and the crime of wasting it.

I attended a Good Friday service in which the pounding of a hammer against a nail could be heard in the background.

Once when talking about teamwork I would randomly bang a loud cymbal. At the end I made the point that as part of a symphony a cymbal can be a very valuable instrument, while by itself it simply is nerve-racking- it made the point well.

When you plan a presentation consider how to involve the sense of hearing beyond just using your words. It may get you message to your audience beyond the ears and into their imagination.

Craig Wagganer is an instructor for The Leader’s Institute® and teaches the Fearless Presentations® public speaking training class as well as individual presentation coaching sessions for clients and individuals.

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact Part 2

Craig Wagganer — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 17:11:25 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact

Part Two

Taste: A great meal is a great memory.

I can’t remember every meal I’ve eaten (although I carry the evidence), but I can remember certain times that were outstanding. A good public presentation is that way, it is memorable- like a great taste that lingers in the mind long after the palate has moved on to something else. When preparing a presentation it is a good idea to consider taste and how you can get it involved into your presentation. Consider your next presentation, what taste comes to mind? That may sound like a silly question, but if the material you are presenting is important and you want your audience to remember it, involve as many senses as possible. Taste may seem like a difficult consideration, but if you think about it and let your creativity guide you, it may be possible to add something that will make your presentation a very memorable experience.

Speaking to a group on the powers of refreshing friendships I had volunteers pass out small glasses of ice water. Another time speaking on the idiosyncrasies of the group I was presenting to, I passed out small glasses of 7-Up (at that time the “Uncola”). On another occasion, speaking on the need of refreshment and renewal (on a very hot summer day) I passed out Dixie Cups of ice cream. Each time there was a very welcomed reception of the refreshments, but I was also able to use the “taste” of the experience as dramatic illustration of the subject matter. People became more engaged in the presentation than if I had only used words and descriptions. Having the illustration in their hands (and literally their mouths) made the message come alive and offered a greater engagement of the audience with the point of the presentation.

Taste is a very powerful sense that can also create and/or recall emotions. By doing so people connect to your message at a deeper level than just the spoken communication. When taste is used to reinforce the verbal a clear connection and more memorable experience is likely. Think of the difference your presentation will make if you simply, creatively come up with a taste experience for your audience to share. When you tell a story, give an anecdote, make a demonstration and then add an element that is not expected- giving them something to taste, not just think about, or touch, but actually taste… imagine the impact.

When preparing your presentation, does a specific taste come to mind? How can you incorporate that into your presentation? Can you use that in a clever and innovative way to reinforce the message? Don’t be afraid to try new things, new ways. Your creativity may set you and your message apart and your audience. You may be able to take your material from their mouth to their imaginations.

Craig Wagganer is an instructor for The Leader’s Institute® and teaches the Fearless Presentations® public speaking training class as well as individual presentation coaching sessions for clients and individuals.

Craig Wagganer — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 16:44:18 +0000

Everett Dirksen: “I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.” Paradox is the nature of man. Craig Wagganer, author and keynote speaker for The Leader’s Institute Leadership and Team Building Company

The Most Frightening Type of Public Speaking – Impromptu Speaking

Doug Staneart — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 16:38:26 +0000

By Rick Highsmith

Public speaking is recognized as the Number 1 fear of adults in The Book of Lists. Assuming that’s true where would impromptu public speaking rank? Even when we have prepared thoroughly, speaking to an audience provokes anxiety. So what is the factor of increase in anxiety when we have to speak with little or no preparation?

I have spoken with hundreds of people who are seeking help in overcoming the anxiety and fear of public speaking. It is virtually unanimous among this group that fear of being judged or criticized is behind much of the anxiety. When confronted with speaking without preparation people tell me, “My mind freezes up;” or “I can’t put words together;” or some variation on that theme. So the anxiety produces the feared result.

When helping people overcome these fears, The Leader’s Institute© uses a desensitization process that allows our clients to realize their brain has the information they need. And that anxiety is preventing access to the information. In our Fearless Presentations© class we have the participants make a list of common objects, feelings and experiences. Each member is given a topic (other than their own) and stands to speak. Here are two participants in a recent class in Orlando.

As Stacy and Karen shared, we use a simple technique to call on our brain to provide us with a picture to talk about. The brain cooperates and words flow. Through this experience our class members realize they can access information readily. This transfers in to the work place by simply changing the query you are making to yourself, i.e. what terms are you “googling” your brain for? It might be “What’s the most important thing about this project the committee needs to know?” or “What is the most significant problem affecting the project deadline?” or “What is the most valuable contribution this employee is making to the company?”

With the first piece of information your brain provides you begin speaking. While speaking you formulate the second “most important” and continue delivering information. This may seem complicated. However, I have found through years of teaching and coaching public speakers it is a skill easily mastered with practice.

For more information contact me at The Leader’s Institute©.

Rick Highsmith
Senior Instructor

Public Speaking Fear and Eye Contact

Doug Staneart — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 12:15:27 +0000

Questioner: Mikey
Category: Public Speaking
Private: No

Subject: Fear to perform

Question: Hello, I am supposed to give a presentation in my college class and I’m kind of nervous. It is a presentation where I have to talk about an immigrant that I had to interview. So I need to stand in front and talk about him for 5 minutes. My biggest problem is who to look at and eye contact. Thanks!

Answer: Mikey, worry less about where to look and focus more on communicating with the individuals in your audience. Pretend that you are speaking to your friends at lunch and trying to tell them about the cool person that you just met. When you are at lunch speaking to a few friends, you’ll naturally (without thinking about it) look at one of your friends while you are speaking for about three to six seconds. You’ll tend to hold that eye contact until you see the person react to what you are saying. For instance, the person will likely nod slightly or smile, etc. Then, typically, you’ll turn to a different friend at the table and continue the conversation.

It’s the same with speeches. Tell the audience something that is important or meaningful, and you’ll naturally make good eye contact with individuals in the audience.

Good luck.

Doug Staneart

http://www.fearlesspresentations.com

http://www.leadersinstitutebootcamp.com

Corporate Fearless Presentations In New York

admin — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:49:31 +0000

Boar’s Head quality deli meats, cheeses and soups was the location for a great Fearless Presentations class for 9 f its new distributors. The class was two days of fun and experiential learning as the group discussed presentation fear, techniques, and enhancement. Over the course of the two days the participants gave several presentations ranging from introductions, to telling a story, to making the story persuasive, and how to use structure to develop a great three point presentations quickly and efficiently.

Each of the participants are in training to become distributors of the finest meats, cheeses and soups available. As part of their responsibilities they will be working with store owners, managers, salespeople, the public and there own partners in their distributorship, along with the corporate contacts at Boar’s Head. It is a very active position with many responsibilities and these quality people are also very quality minded. Their active participation made the classa fun and exciting class to teach. Learning and enhancing their presentation and communication skills is an intricate part of their need and training.

The final presentation is about 6 minutes long and includes a three point structure, stories, analogies, audience participation questions, and other impact ideas to make the presentations remarkable. Each of the people involved in the class then met at the close of the class for a one-on-one session with the instructor. Each of the attendees did a great job in making their presentations concise and memorable. To make quality presentations, or even to make an impressive conversation, a person must understand any fear and how to address it, and then have a structure to help them feel comfortable. The folks at Boar’s Head have made a great stride in training their new distributor candidates by including the two day Fearless Presentation as a part of the 8 week training.

Business PowerPoint Presentations with a Little Spice

Craig Wagganer — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 16:19:07 +0000

By Craig Wagganer

In Business PowerPoint Presentations, Consider Your Audience

Second- Involve the Audience

So you have considered your audience, and you know your message, now how do you get the audience involved? It is more than asking questions and showing slides, it is putting something in their hands, it is incorporating movement, it is using as many of their senses as possible to get them and keep them involved.

Third- Be Concise in Your Closing

Craig Wagganer is a speaker and trainer specializing in Business PowerPoint Presentations training and skill development. (http://www.fearlesspresentations.com/) Craig teaches the Fearless Presentations class in major cities all over the US, Canada and Europe. Request information from his website, and we’ll send you a free copy of the Fearless Presentations book.

Fearless Presentations Success in Boston

Craig Wagganer — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 21:43:48 +0000

: 3of the 4 Attenders

Boston, MA was the sight for a small but successful Fearless Presentations workshop. There were only four attending, but the class was very good and received very positive feedback. In fact, 2 of the three companies represented mentioned they would recommend to their supervisors that class become one of their regular training modules. We’ll follow up on that and see what happens.

All four men were experienced in presentations and already had some basic skills. some were looking at situations where they would be doing more speaking and wanted to hone their presentations skills, others were taking the class because they are expected to take continuing education classes at regular intervals, and another reason was it just looked like a good class. We had fun going through the material and there was good input from all of the class participants.

After the first session a coupe of the people agreed that they had already gotten their money’s worth. Of course fear is public speaking is a clear and present concern for most people. So in addressing how to overcome that fear, much was shared that helped the individuals for their first purpose in coming. So when we discussed that 90% of their nervousness doesn’t show up to their audience, they were relieved. When we reviewed the videos, all were certain and expressed that they were more nervous than the videos revealed. This just reinforced the point, they were nervous, but the audience was not aware of it. Just that fact allowed them, the next time they got up, to take a couple deep breaths and address the audience with confidence knowing that their nervousness didn’t show- so it was easier to display confidence in their message.

It was a great two days and Boston, although rainy the whole time, was a great experience. If your in the Boston area, or would like to spend some time there, check out the next Fearless Presentations in Boston.

PowerPoint Tips: 10 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes (Webinar Replay)

Doug Staneart — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 06:17:10 +0000

Here is the replay of our free webinar called PowerPoint Tips: The Ten (10) Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. We ended up with hundreds of people registering to attend, so if you happened to try to login and all of the seats were gone, we apologize. Enjoy the free PowerPoint Tips Webinar.

If you have trouble viewing the movie above, you can watch it at the source at: http://www.blip.tv/file/4024846/

Other Resources:

(Free Webinar) The 10 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Doug Staneart — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:12:49 +0000

This Thursday Evening, our CEO, Doug Staneart, will be leading a Free Webinar called PowerPoint Tips: The 10 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. One of the things that we’ve found conducting over 1000 Fearless Presentations Seminars is that one of the biggest causes of Public Speaking Fear is the way that a person designs his/her PowerPoint Presentation. Design it wrong, and your nervousness increases exponentially. Design it right, and you’ll be poised and confident.

Register for the seminar by clicking this link: http://www.leadersinstitute.com/powerpoint-tips-10-biggest-powerpoint-mistakes-webinar-replay/

In the free webinar, we’ll cover the following:

The 10 Biggest PowerPoint Mistakes and How to Avoid them.
The simple mistake that, if you do it, will cause your presentation to fall flat every single time (and what to do instead).
How what we do to reduce our nervousness actually causes us to be more nervous (and boring!)
A strategy that will increase the clarity of each slide ten-fold.
How, often, the things we do to make our slides look prettier actually cause the audience to be confused.
Everything your boss and coworkers have ever told you about charts and graphs is absolutely wrong — and once you know this secret, you will tower over them.
How just physically moving two feet in the room can give you more confidence and authority on your topice (seriously — two feet, and it’s not what you think).
And how if you let someone else design your slide deck, you’ll increase your nervousness exponentially.
And a whole lot more!

The webinar will take place Thursday, Aug 19th (that’s this Thursday) at 8:00 PM Central Time (9:00 PM Eastern/6:00 PM Pacific) and it’s free to our friends and clients. Seating is limited, though, so you do need to register in order to reserve a seat (login early because we expect to run out of speaces.)

If you’d like to attend but can’t make it, register anyway, and we’ll send you a link to the replay so you can watch it at your leisure.

See you at the webinar! (The links in the article now forward to the replay of this webinar. Just click any to watch it.)

Presentations Skills – Using Analogies (Video from Rome)

Doug Staneart — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:16:27 +0000

Presentation Skills, Using Analogies — Analogies are a great way to take complex data in a presentation and make it easier to understand. I was in Rome a few weeks ago, and I was staying in a hotel that overlooked the city. It reminded me of an analogy the Freud created to explain the complexities of the conscious and sub-conscious mind. This video shows how he took this complex data and made it more understandable. Fearless Presentations is a presentation training course offered in major cities all over the world, and here is a video from Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, who gives a few ways that a little training can eliminate stage fright.

Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:44:35 +0000

By Doug Staneart

Public Speaking Fear? Where does stage fright come from, and how in the world do you get rid of it? Most people who stand up in front of a group and feel the butterflies in the stomach, the sweaty palms, and the shaky hands think that they are the only ones who feel public speaking anxiety, but presentation fear is very common. Surveys show that over 95% of people asked admit to having, at least some, public speaking fear. Over the last 20 years, I’ve helped over 20,000 overcome their presentation anxiety, though, and here are a few things that I’ve learned in the process that might help you too.

Where Public Speaking Fear Comes From

Anytime you try something new, you will be nervous. However, when we try public speaking for the first time — by definition, — we are always experimenting in front of a group. Think about how nervous you were when you drove a car on the freeway for the first time. Think about how much more traumatic that would have been if 25 of your peers had been watching every move you made during that first drive. So the initial fear or anxiety that you felt the first time you spoke in front of a group was absolutely normal. If you didn’t feel nervous, that would be strange. Over time, if you have successes in your new skill, your confidence grows, but if you have what you perceive to be a failure — even if you did okay — your nervousness will grow. This is why most people have this fear. Continuing the learning to drive a car example, if you only drove once every year or two and every time that you did, you had all those peers watching you, it would be difficult to develop a track record of perceived successes.

How to Eliminate Public Speaking Fear

The best way to eliminate the nervousness is to have a series of successes. That’s why Toastmasters and other speaking clubs work so well when people attend over a period of time. When you speak and have a success, your confidence will grow slightly. So if you string a series of successful presentations together, you’ll diminish the fear pretty dramatically. The biggest problem with toasting clubs, though, is that it takes months or years to make progress, and most of the time, people who attend need help right now! A good public speaking class can help dramatically here. A public speaking class where you can get up and physically speak in front of the class six to 10 times in a short period of time like two to three days will work wonders if it is in a controlled environment.

Once the Public Speaking Fear Diminishes, Experiment with More Challenging Presentations

After you start to feel more comfortable, it’s important to try more challenging presentations. In reality, you have to force yourself to become more nervous again. The reason why is that as you get better at the more challenging types of presentations, the simpler presentations become really easy. Going back to the car driving analogy, if you only ever drive in the parking lot, you’ll never grow as a driver. However, when you begin to drive in a neighborhood, and then you go back to the parking lot, the parking lot is easier. When you get on the freeway, going back to the neighborhood and driving is a lot more comfortable. If you became a NASCAR driver and got good at the bumpin’ and rubbin’ at 170 MPH with just inches between each car, then you will have absolutely no fear when you drive around your neighborhood. It’s the same with public speaking. When you get really good at the complicated, the simpler presentations become second nature.

So if you are feeling those butterflies and sweaty palms, realize that you’re normal. Find a place where you can string a series of successful presentations together in order to begin to grow your self-confidence. Then experiment with more challenging presentations over time to continue to grow. You’ll eliminate your public speaking fear in no time.

Doug Staneart is a public speaking coach based in Dallas, Texas. He teaches a public speaking crash-course called the Leader’s Institute® Boot Camp where he helps participants eliminate their public speaking fear in as little as three days. Request information about the Boot Camp at http://www.leadersinstitutebootcamp.com and, he’ll send you a free copy of his best-selling book, Fearless Presentations.

How to Recover from a Terrible Speech (Bombing on Stage)

Doug Staneart — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 19:47:59 +0000

How to recover after giving a terrible public speaking performanceand bombing on stage – how I did it after a disastrous speech in college, and how you can too. Ever have one of those situations where we are asked to do some public speaking, and things just don’t go well? Whether it is from public speaking fear or presentation anxiety, or if the poor performance just came from preparing for your speech in an inproper way, it happens. Even public speaking pros can bomb a speech. These are a few things that you can do to recover.

Public Speaking Fear comes from Past Failures (or Pervceived Failures)

The first thing to remember about having a terrible speech is that public speaking fear comes from situations like this where we have a failure — or even just a perceived failure. Anytime we try something, and we don’t perform very well, we will become more nervous when we try to attempt the skill again. Think about it… What would have happened if the first time you ever drove a car, you had a terrible accident. If that drive was your only experience behind the wheel, it will be nerve-racking to get back into the driver’s seat. If the first time you ever used a computer, you accidentally erased the hard-drive, you would be very timid about trying again. This is what happens to a lot of people try to develop presentation skills. They give it a try, things don’t go so well, so they give up. In our heads, when we don’t perform well in front of a group, we think that we absolutely failed. However, in most situations, you probably did a lot better than you think. We tend to exaggerate our failures when we think about them internally.

For example, when I was in college, I was the youngest intern at a huge Fortune 500 company, and at the end of the summer, before going back to school, I had to give a presentation to the intern committee, my intern peers, my boss, and quite a few of the corporate vice-presidents who flew in just for the presentations. I was the third to present. I had memorized my entire presentation and got to where I could deliver it flawlessly within the 15 minute time limit. However, when I get nervous, I speak REALLY fast. I gave the entire presentation in about five minutes and said every word. I was so nervous that I had sweat on my forhead that I kept wiping off my brow with the sleeve of my shirt. When I sat down, I knew that I had totally failed. I was embarrassed, and it was torture to have to sit around the table for the rest of the afternoon as each of my peers got up and presented flawlessly. Interestingly, though, a friend of mine who was one of the other interns is an attorney in my hometown, Ft. Worth. I saw her a few years ago, and I mentioned that I had spent the last 12 years trying to overcome that horrible speech that I gave when we worked together. She looked back at me puzzled, and said, “What horrible speech?” The performance stuck with me, but I suspect that most of the people in the room probably didn’t really notice. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t perfom well, but it should give you a little confidence in that we are typically a lot harder on ourselves than the audience is on us.

Change the Way that you Prepare for a Speech

One of the biggest mistakes that I made in that big speech was that I tried to memorize my speech. Writing a talk word-for-word and trying to memorize it is the absolute worst way to prepare for a speech. When I created the Fearless Presentations class, one of the first things that I designed was a simple way to prepare for a speech without memorizing it. We typically spend a couple of days helping participants master this skill, but in a nutshell, the technique works like this. First, narrow down your topic to something pretty specific, because the more that you try to say in one siting, the less likely anyone in the audience will be to remember it. Once you narrow down your topic, organize your speech into just a few key points. Three, four, or five key points will work well in most situations. I design my presentations by choosing which key points are most important to explaining the topic. Let’s say that you have a broad topic, and you have about ten or fifteen things that need to be said about the topic. Chances are that after you cover the first few points, your audience will start to drift off anyway, so instead of covering all ten items, pick the three or four most important items instead. Give a couple of pieces of proof or support for each key point. That way, if you have three key points and a couple of support for each item, you really only have to memorize about nine things. You could write nine things on one note card and have room to spare.

Get a Good Coach

One of the fastest ways to recover from a terrible speech is to get a good coach. I don’t mean get someone to critique your performance. A lot of well-intended coworkers or friends tend to do this, and it just makes things worse for the most part. What you want instead is someone who can identify a few of the key strengths that you have as a speaker and who can help you develop those strengths. For instance, where a coworker might tell you that you are monotone, a good coach would help you see that your pretty detail-oriented and have a knack for providing solid support. Since that is a tallent, if you stop trying to memorize your speech (see above) you would automatically increase your enthusiasm. Another example would be where a friend might point out that your hands are shaking, a good coach would see that you have a talent for building rapport with your audience (even though you might feel a little shy). If you develop that skill, your nervousness will decrease and your shakey hands will diminish dramatically. Focus on the things that you do well versus trying to correct symptoms, and you’ll have a lot more success.

Bottom-line is that when you have one of those inevitable poor public speaking performances, it’s not the end of the world. You can recover from it. If you use it as a learning experience, you’ll become a stronger speaker the next time that you give a presentation.

Doug Staneart is a public speaking coach for The Leader’s Institute headquartered out of Dallas Texas. He is the founder of The Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class and author of the book, Fearless Presentations.

Persuasive Public Speaking (Video from Rome)

Doug Staneart — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 16:54:49 +0000

Persuasive Public Speaking. One of the most effective ways to persuade your audience is to relay a personal story or an example that shows the benefits of your recommendation to your audience. Religious leaders have used this technique for over 2000 years with great success. This video explains how the persuasive public speaking technique works. Fearless Presentations is a presentation training course offered in major cities all over the world, and here is a video from Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, who gives a explains this technique in the courtyard of the Vatican.

Public Speaking Quote

Craig Wagganer — Fri, 07 May 2010 21:10:56 +0000

“Public speaking is the art of diluting a two-minute idea with a two-hour vocabulary.”

— Evan Esar

A professionally trained speaker can make 5 minutes of material last 30 minutes at least. But it will seem longer

Public Speaking Fear — Where Does Public Speaking Fear come from? (VIDEO)

Doug Staneart — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 20:12:39 +0000

Public Speaking Fear — Where does Public Speaking Fear come from? (VIDEO) I just finished a fantastic presentation skills class in Baden Baden, Germany, and I made a very interesting observation. I’ve been teaching public speaking classes and presentation skills for years, and I realized a long time ago that fear comes from uncertainty about an outcome. So, for instance, when people feel nervous about speaking in front of a group, they are nervous because they are uncertain about whether they will do well or do poorly.

In this particular class, though, just about every single person was a non-native English speaking person. Studies show that 95% of the American population is nervous about public speaking — uncertain about the outcome. Just think how much more nervous you would be if you were asked to give you speech in Spanish, or French? That’s exactly what this group was asked to do. And yet, within a couple of days, these participants were delivering Fearless Presentations!

The group was made up of participants from the US and UK (the only native English speakers) as well as participants from France, Germany, Russia, and China. When diverse groups like this get together, more often than not, they speak English as a common language. And that is what this group was doing.

What I noticed was that this group acted very much the same as participants in our normal US and UK classes. Sure, they were nervous, but as we progressed through the class, and each speaker had a new success in speaking, their self-confidence grew dramatically.

The key to developing self-confidence in public speaking is to have a series of fantastic successes, and the best way to do that is to get a good coach. Failure causes uncertainty in future presentations, but success causes certainty that you will speak confidently and with poise.

Success to you!

Doug Staneart is the CEO of The Leader’s Institute. If you’d like information about how to eliminate your public speaking fear, visit our public speaking class website.

Better Government Through Public Speaking Skills

Richard Highsmith — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:58:19 +0000

“Organizations with the most effective communications achieved a 91 percent total return to shareholders,” according to Watson-Wyatt, a global consulting firm focused on human capital and financial management. Currently, there is much discussion questioning the ability of federally run health care and big government in managing our tax dollars.

U.S. government agencies are taking action to improve the communications skills of their workers. Employees from the Defense Intelligence Agency, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Naval Sea Systems Command attended the Fearless Presentations© class in Washington, D.C. in early April 2010. Other departments who enrolled students in the last couple of classes include the Social Security Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Defense, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Labor, the Veterans Administration, Freddie Mack, Federal Reserve Bank, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Marine Corps Systems Command, and the National Security Agency.

The Leader’s Institute is working to improve our government one employee at a time.

Public Speaking Quote

Craig Wagganer — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:50:34 +0000

“The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.”

— George Jessel

Can you quickly name 10 people as fast as I can that demonstrate this quote? To make it a little more difficult leave politicians off the list.

Chicago Class Teaches Enthusiastic Presentation Skills

Craig Wagganer — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 21:13:16 +0000

Last week in Chicago, nine people were in attendance at a Fearless Presentations class by The Leaders Institute. Everyone shared openly and enjoyed the different activities aimed at increasing their comfort in presenting and their ability to deliver effective public presentations. Feedback suggested that people most benefited from the preparation and delivery advice for effective presentations. During the class and they learned a lot from the over correction (adding enthusiasm) exercise. Many expressed success in addressing their fear of public speaking. It was a great group from all over including people from: Nova Scotia, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and Illinois. Presentation skills and training are great assets, regardless of career or industry.

Notes on Quotes

Craig Wagganer — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:45:40 +0000

“We lead from the essence of who we are as a person.”

Lillas Brown

Leadership development is, after all, personal development.

Upcoming Public Speaking Classes and Leadership Boot Camp

Doug Staneart — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:21:31 +0000

Hey Everybody,

I’ll be teaching a number of classes coming up in the next couple of months as will a number of our senior instructors. The much-anticipated Leader’s Institute Leadership and Public Speaking Boot Camp is coming up in the Summer. We still have a few seats left, but hotel space is very limited. If you’d like to attend, make sure and register ASAP. Register for the Leadership Boot Camp on Jun 17-20, 2010.

Quick Leadership Tip: Keep Promises. Even Small Ones. The people around us determine our integrity and reliability by how effectively we keep our promises. Missed deadlines, forgotten follow up emails, working late when you promised to be with your family… All of these situations cause people to have less confidence in us. Keep your promises, and people will see you as a leader.

Upcoming Fearless Presentations Classes:

Mar 25-26 Chicago <
Apr 8-9 Washington DC <
Apr 12-13 Dallas <
Apr 22-23 Philadelphia <
Apr 27-28 Minneapolis <
May 6-7 Boston <
May 11-12 Las Vegas <
May 20-21 San Francisco <
May 25-26 Denver <

Quick Public Speaking Tip: Speak on Topics in which You Are an Expert. Many people go to toasting club or classes to reduce nervousness, and then make the fatal mistake of designing “practice” speeches based on topics that they research on the internet. When you deliver these types of speeches, you will actually make yourself more nervous. Instead, choose topics about what you do for a living. You’ll be pleasantly surprised how interested your audience will be.

Music 101: The Key to Accent Reduction

Doug Staneart — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:56:51 +0000

By Erin Corrigan

“Without music life would be a mistake”

These are the words of the famous German Philosopher Frederik Nietzsche, and as a specialist in pronunciation and Accent Reduction for non-native English speakers, I can attest to this regarding the English language. English is a musical language, as is Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, and many other languages. The trick to speaking English with clarity and impact, is understanding the melody and rhythm that is specific to English, but differs in other languages. Therefore, without the music of the English language, pronunciation is a mistake.

If English were a two-man band, it would be made up of a drum and a saxophone. Firstly, English is a swinging language, more like a jazz or rock group than a classical orchestra. English sounds are big, loud, and emphatic, and our melody is bold and dance-worthy.

I hear complaints from my students time and time again that they are always asked to repeat themselves, and even when they do, the listener still has difficulty understanding. Where does this come from? There are three major components that make up an accent: Sounds (consonants and vowels), Rhythm (stressed and unstressed words), and Intonation (the rise and fall of pitch in a sentence).

Let’s take as an example, a native Russian speaker. When my former student, Raisa, said the word “coffee”, she pronounced it “Kofi” with a quick “O” sound as in the word “Coke”. There are two things that keep the listener from processing the word that she is trying to say. The first is the length of the vowel; in English we have stressed vowels that hold like a half note, instead of a quarter note, for example. The second problem is the articulation of the vowel. Russians tend to have a tight jaw when speaking, which inhibits proper pronunciation of the English open-vowel sounds such as in the words “coffee,” “politics,” and “options”. In a modern pop song, most of the emotion comes in the singing of vowels. Think of Celine Dion, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston, who are known for stretching their notes. The same goes in English. We create impact and emotion in our vowel sounds. So not only is it necessary for the sake of proper articulation, but it is also a leveraging point for powerful speakers.

In the case of Rhythm, I will use, Luc, a former French student as an example. Most of his presentations and conversations sounded deadpan and unclear. In the French language, each syllable and word in a sentence should get equal emphasis. Conversely, in English, we not only stress certain syllables, but we stress certain words. Typically, we stress nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and question words (content words), and we de-emphasize articles, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, and “to be” verbs (structure words). This allows certain words to jump out at the listener, avoiding a stream of words that become jumbled together. So, with the implementation of rhythm, Luc went from a crowd sleeper to a crowd pleaser.

Last, but not least, we have the component of Intonation. Intonation is the overall melody of a song or a sentence. It allows the listener to determine the mood and the intention of the sentence. For example, Sylvia was an Italian student of mine, who constantly left a rising intonation at the end of her sentences. This made Sylvia look unsure of herself because her statements were delivered as questions. Sylvia’s biggest challenge was overcoming working in a male-dominated, English speaking industry. Therefore, helping her control her intonation patterns was a first step in creating a better clarity and a more positive perception in the workplace. This is just one example of how intonation can affect the delivery of a speech. As in music, the more dramatic the change from high to low pitch, the more intense the delivery of a thought becomes. This can be used not only for clarity, but also for persuasiveness and emphasis. Intonation sets the tone, so it is extremely important for a non-native English speaker to understand the intonation patterns of the English language.

So, if you are a non-native English speaking individual and you are tired of people asking you to repeat yourself, you can always crank up the stereo and sing your heart out to your favorite American artists, or if you’re worried about what your neighbors will think, take some accent reduction classes with an expert!

Erin Corrigan, is a speaker and trainer for The Leader’s Institute. She specializes in public speaking training and accent reduction programs for non-native English speakers.

How to Scare the Gooey Out of a New Public Speaker

Doug Staneart — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:44:20 +0000

By Doug Staneart
95% of the population has some type of fear of public speaking, and a great deal of this nervousness or anxiety comes from well-meaning friends or coworkers who offer constructive criticism as a way to help a new presenter improve his/her public speaking. Public speaking is not unlike any other new skill that is developed in that when we try to speak in front of a group for the first time, every one of us will be nervous (just like the first time you used a computer, or the first time you drove a car, or the first time you rode a bicycle.) What happens next, though, usually determines whether the first-time speaker will gain confidence or become more nervous.

Any time we try something new and have what we consider to be a success, we gain confidence in that skill. Any time we try something new and feel like we failed, we diminish confidence.

Think about learning to speak in front of a group as we do about riding a bicycle. When a kid hops on a bicycle, rides for a few yards, then falls over, the Mom or Dad, usually says something like, “Look how far you rode! Let’s see if you can go farther next time,” not “You did good, HOWEVER, toward the end there, you really tapered off, so you should probably keep pedaling a little longer and make sure you keep a firm grip on the handlebars, and oh yeah, by the way, you looked a little shaky, so keep your posture upright so you can have better control of the bike.”HOWEVER, that’s the way most friends and coworkers coach speakers. We tell the speaker something good, but then we follow up with either a BUT or a HOWEVER. What that tells the speaker is, “What I just told you was just to make you feel better, BUT here is how you really did.”

A seasoned presenter will be able to accept this type of coaching more positively. A new speaker, though, will most likely reduce his/her confidence and focus primarily on fixing the problem instead of presenting well. For instance, if we count “Uhs,” then over time, a new presenter will focus on not saying “uh” instead of on presenting his/her talk well. Consequently, the speaker will most likely say “uh” more often.

Constructive criticism in public speaking usually sounds like the following (I’ve included natural interpretations that we all internalize when we hear these types of comments about ourselves):

- Slow down (You talk so fast that people can’t understand you.)
- Speak up (You timid little person… We can’t hear you.)
- Stand up straighter (We can all see that you are not confident enough to present well.)
- Take your hands off the lectern (We want to be able to see your hands shake.)

And there are dozens more. Just remember, the best type of coaching you can give a new speaker is to tell them they look natural and confident (if that is a stretch, tell them how much courage they have.) Let them get comfortable speaking a few times and have a few successes in front of a group. After a few successes, a lot of the menial nervous ticks and symptoms will start to diminish. When the trust is high between you and the speaker, and he/she knows that you think he/she is confident, then you can begin to offer a few constructive comments a little at a time.

Doug Staneart, doug@leadersinstitute.com, is a senior instructor for The Leader’s Institute. He has twenty-five years experience training and coaching. He has built and sold two successful businesses. To learn more about becoming a High Impact Leader visit our website at http://www.fearlessandpersuasivespeaking.com or call Doug toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

Everything You’ve Learned about Public Speaking is WRONG!

Doug Staneart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:29:24 +0000

By Doug Staneart

Many myths about public speaking have been passed along from person to person over the years, and the one thing that is consistent about these myths is that the people who pass them along are still nervous about speaking. After facilitating over 200 public speaking classes and never having a single person fail to significantly reduce his/her fear of speaking, I had a dramatic realization. Just about everything I was taught about public speaking while I was in school and from well meaning peers and coworkers – WAS WRONG!

Below are the top three myths that we have identified, and some simple tips that will help you reduce your fear or nervousness.

Myth #1: If you write out a talk and memorize it, you’ll be more comfortable.

This is the fastest, easiest way to make your presentation boring and canned and to make you more nervous. When you memorize a talk word-for-word, any slight hick-up or distraction can throw you off track. That can increase your nervousness. Instead, write out just a few key points and practice giving stories or examples to back up each point.

Myth #2: More facts/details will better clarify your topic.

Most of us believe that a little is good, more is better, and a whole bunch is just right in public speaking. If I can give you 10 reasons why my topic is true, then that is obviously better than two or three reasons, right? Well in public speaking, the more points we offer, the more confused our audience can become. A good rule of thumb is five or less. So, after you decide on your topic, narrow down the key points that support your topic to around five key points or fewer. If your talk requires more than five points, then it would be best to divide the presentation into two different talks.

Myth #3: Nervous habits make you a poor speaker.

Most people think that “Uhms,” talking fast, and nervous gestures are bad, but in fact, these things can make you very relatable to your audience. “Uhm” is a normal word in the English language. We say this word all the time in normal conversation. When it’s not there, the speaker can sound phony and forced. Plus, I’ve found that if you try to get yourself to stop saying “Uhm,” you’ll probably just start saying it more often anyway. Also, when people speak fast and move more, they show energy and enthusiasm. I’ve had many speakers come through my classes who were scared to get up and speak at the beginning of the program, but when they did speak, the audience thought that they were excellent speakers. The audience saw the nervousness and assumed it was enthusiasm.

Realize that speaking well is like learning to play golf. If you get a group of hackers together to coach each other, you’re just going to get a group of people very proficient at a bad golf swing. However, if you get a good coach, he can shave strokes off in no time. If you really want to get good at public speaking quickly, get a good coach who doesn’t buy-in to all the speaking myths.

Secret to Great Presentations: ENTHUSIASM

Doug Staneart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:25:29 +0000

By Doug Staneart

If you take only one piece of advice about public speaking, make sure that it is this pearl of wisdom. If you focus on this one simple thing, the number of times you say “uhm” won’t matter. If you focus on this one thing, your gestures and not knowing what to do with your hands won’t matter. If you focus on this one thing, then the occasional loss of train of thought won’t matter. In fact, if you focus on this one simple thing, you can break just about every rule that public speakers are supposed to abide by, and you will still win over your audience.

This one simple rule has transformed countless mediocre speakers into good speakers, scores of good speakers into great speakers, and numerous great speakers into world-class speakers.

This simple rule that can make or break a speaker is… ENTHUSIASM.

That’s right, if you have a little excitement in your talk and a spring in your step, people pay attention. Your audience will have just about as much excitement about your talk as you do, and no more. So, if you want to win over your audience, add a sparkle of enthusiasm.

One of my mentors told me that there are two rules to live by in the world of professional speakers. She said, “Rule number one is to never speak on a topic that you yourself are not enthusiastic about, and rule number two is that if you ever violate rule number one, fake it ’til you make it.”

Frank Bettger in his book How I Raised Myself from Failure to Success in Selling said it a different way. He said, “If you act enthusiastic, then you’ll be enthusiastic.”

For those of us who get nervous in front of groups, it’s even easier. In the previous chapter I pointed out that 90% of our nervousness doesn’t even show. Let’s look at the other 10%. When we are nervous, we often cut out preambles and get right to the point, our rate of speech typically speeds up, we tend to move around a lot more, and we may move our hands around more than normal. Well, when we are excited about something, we do the exact same things.

Years ago, when I was a sales manager, I was often amazed at the number of times that a brand new sales person without a lot of product knowledge and absolutely no experience, could close sale after sale while my more seasoned people were struggling. The more times I went on sales calls with these new people, the more I started to notice a pattern. New salespeople are often nervous, so when they walk into an office on a sales call, they tend to cut right to the chase. They also generally talk faster because they are afraid they’ll forget something. They have a tough time sitting still because of the nervousness, so they move around a lot.

I noticed that these symptoms of nervousness worked to the advantage of these new salespeople, because their prospects looked across the table at salespeople who appeared to be extremely enthusiastic about what they were selling. I would imagine that these potential buyers were saying things to themselves like, “if this person believes so much in this product, it must be good.”

We as speakers can also use our nervousness to our advantage. When we turn that pent up nervousness into energy and enthusiasm, our audience can’t help but be energized as well.

Doug Staneart, is CEO of The Leader’s Institute® Entrepreneur Workshops. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

Get off the Short List: Winning Bid Presentations

Doug Staneart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:12:23 +0000

By: Doug Staneart

In past decades, the contractor who had the lowest bid typically got the job. And while low bids are still critical, today that same contractor is likely to be placed on a “Short List” where the contractor will have to sell himself and sell his company to the potential clients. This is usually done through a presentation.

There is no foolproof way to win a bid, but there are a few things you can do to hedge your bets. By using these simple tips, you may be able to increase your chance of getting the job pretty significantly.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK

Never go into a presentation with a standard, generic proposal. Each buyer is different, and each buyer will have different priorities in choosing a contractor. Remember, no matter what the buyer tells you AFTER the presentation, price is almost never the reason they didn’t choose you. The reason that buyers tell us this is that they usually have no other means to make a decision.

Let me explain. Let’s say we are writing a proposal for a school district. The buyer, the person making the ultimate decision (by the way, that is usually only one person, even though it may to appear to be a committee,) has a hierarchy of priorities that will influence the decision. This hierarchy will be different for different people, but let’s say this particular buyer is primarily interested in the job finishing on time, the safety of the children, the aesthetics of the building, and finally, price-in that order. If this buyer views three proposals all saying basically the same things, “We are the best at finishing on time. Safety is our priority. Look at how beautiful our buildings look.” Then the only criteria left to make a decision is price.

If any of the contractors in the above example could have proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were indeed the best at any one of those things, then that contractor would have easily made it to the top of the “Short List.” Specific evidence that you can do what your buyer wants will set you apart. This evidence could be pictures, testimonials, exhibits, quotes, trade journal articles, and many other forms. The more dramatic the evidence, the more easily it will be remembered. One of my clients photocopied over 100 letters of recommendation and delivered a set to each of the committee members at the conclusion of his presentation. He was the only contractor who offered even one. He got the job and was $250,000 over the lowest bidder.

How do we know what our buyer’s hierarchy is? ASK. Call up or visit the people you will present to. Find out what, other than price, is most important and why. Many times, these buyers will tell you in great detail. Make notes and accumulate evidence that supports how you can do what they want.

THE PRESENTATION

Right or wrong, people form an impression of how competent we are in the first few seconds that they meet us. Are we nervous? Do we present ourselves in a confident, professional manner? Our confidence when we present is vital to winning over our audience to our way of thinking.

The buyers want to get to know the people they will be working with. They want to know if they can trust the contractor. The contractor who can present confidently and build trust and rapport with the audience has a great shot at getting to the top of the “Short List.”

Presenters who have received professional coaching in public speaking skills have a distinct advantage over those who have not.

Doug Staneart, is CEO of The Leader’s Institute® Entrepreneur Workshops. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

Effective Public Speaking in Business Presentations

Doug Staneart — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:06:14 +0000

By: Doug Staneart

Right or wrong, people form a perception about how competent you are by how you present yourself when you stand and speak. They also form perceptions about the company you represent based on your performance. In fact, public speaking is an easy way to set yourself apart from your competition, because when you stand up and say what you want to say, they way that you want to say it, you are doing what 95% of the people in the audience wish they could do. A person who is confident in front of a group gives off an air of competence, whereas a person who fumbles might leave a negative impression.

When I was in college, I had an internship with a major oil company, and at the end of the summer, I had to present a summary of my internship to a group of department managers and vice-presidents. I was the youngest person in the room, just 20. Many of the other interns were graduate students who were much more comfortable in front of a group. When I spoke, I could feel the sweat beads on my forehead, and I could see my hands shaking. The butterflies in my stomach were uncontrollable. After the presentation, I asked myself, “If I were the decision-maker in that room, and I only had one permanent position to offer, would I choose me?” I had to answer “no.” Over the next few years, I trained with some of the most successful public speaking coaches in the country. Since then, I have spoken before thousands of people, and coached hundreds of managers, executives, and other leaders on how to present more effectively to groups. Below are some of the great public speaking tips that I have found that really work.

Realize 90% of nervousness doesn’t even show. The audience usually can’t see the butterflies, or shaky hands, or sweaty palms. The problem occurs when we start thinking about these symptoms rather than focusing on the audience and our topic. By human nature, most people are focused on themselves not on you. Focus on them and two things will happen: 1) they will like you more, and 2) much of the nervousness that you feel will go away.
Add some enthusiasm to your talk. Your audience will never be more excited about your talk than you are, so give them some energy, and they will give it back to you. Walk about a half step faster. Smile. Let your gestures and voice emphasis come naturally. Don’t over do it, but give more energy than what you normally would.
Limit your talk to a few key points. Narrow down your topic to either one key point for a short talk, or thee key point for a longer talk (a talk longer than 30-minutes.) Ask yourself, “If my audience only remembered one thing from my talk, what would be most important thing for them to remember?” The reason this is so important is that the human mind likes to think of only one thing at a time. For instance, think of the Statue of Liberty. What do you see? You probably see a picture in your mind of the statue. Now think of a pink elephant. Again, you probably see a picture in your mind, but the important question is…where did the statue go? Your mind can only truly focus on one thing at a time. As you add additional points, each previous point will become diluted. The more points your presentation has, the less focus the audience will have on each individual point. Once you have your key points, then create your PowerPoint slides. That will keep you from having hundreds of PowerPoint slides.
Tell stories. Don’t tell little white lies, but do tell anecdotes and personal experiences. Stories build rapport with your audience, and they give you more credibility. Your audience will remember your stories a lot longer than they will remember your talking points. I heard Les Brown, a famous motivational speaker, years ago, and he told a story about how a man in his hometown went around the town square holding two baby dolls and squawking like a chicken. Kids in town made fun of him, but Les found out that this man’s house had caught on fire, and his two baby girls died in the blaze. The man attempted to go in and save them many times, but the heat was too great. When his brother-in-law showed up, he verbally assaulted the man calling him a chicken for not going in to save his girls. Ever since then, the man has not spoken a word — instead he just clucks like a chicken. I heard this story years ago, and I can’t remember the specific point Les Brown was making on stage. I do remember the “chicken-man,” though, and I frequently think about how I should get all the facts before passing judgment on people. Les Brown’s stories have longevity, and your stories will have that type of impact as well.
When in doubt, speak from the heart. Let your audience see the real you, and you will have a great speaking performance.

Doug Staneart, is CEO of The Leader’s Institute® Entrepreneur Workshops. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

How to Reduce Public Speaking Anxiety

Richard Highsmith — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 20:55:42 +0000

By: Rick Highsmith

“I can’t believe I agreed to do this speech. Look at all those people out there! My knees are shaking, and my stomach feels like I just went over the top of a roller coaster. My heart is beating so fast and hard my tie is jumping. I just want to scream and run away!”

Speaking in public is often cited as the number one fear of adults. The Book of Lists places the fear of death in fifth place while public speaking ranks first. Jerry Seinfeld said, “That would mean at a funeral, people are five times more likely to want to be in the casket than giving the eulogy.”

Let’s look at some techniques to deal with the anxiety and give an excellent presentation. The methods are divided into the acronym P.R.E.P.A.R.E.

Preparation - The foundation of a good speech is built on the 6 “W’s” of effective journalism. You must determine:

Who is your audience?
What are your key points?
When are you speaking; how long?
Where is the speech; physical surroundings?
Why should the audience listen to you?
How are you going to present?

In an effective speech your audience will only remember 3 to 4 main ideas. Decide on the essential ideas vital for their understanding your topic. These are your key points. Make a brief outline with supporting details, quotes and graphics.

Rehearse- Practice is essential. Try delivering your talk without using any notes and check your timing during this rehearsal. If you have to use notes, then just jot down your key points. Don’t attempt to memorize the entire speech word for word. Mark Twain said, “It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” That is the effect you are working toward- a conversational, impromptu style, but with through knowledge of the material.

Entry- Launching your presentation is as important as the takeoff of an airplane. If the liftoff fails, the rest of the trip becomes irrelevant. Determine how you are going to start your speech and commit the first several lines to memory. An excellent beginning includes telling the audience why they want to listen. What is the benefit to them?

If you are particularly nervous, look for a sympathetic face and talk to that person for several moments. Do not begin with an apology… “I didn’t have much time to prepare for this talk.” Or “I’m not really good at giving speeches.” Starting with a negative makes the audience uncomfortable. Remember you feel more anxious than you look. Convert your nervous energy into enthusiasm and launch your speech positively.

Posturing- Your body is a tool. Learn to use it effectively. Find your center of balance. Your feet should be firmly planted about shoulder width apart. Hold your shoulders back and chin up. Stand calmly, being careful not to fidget or sway. Let your hands rest by your sides.

Make your movements purposeful. If you make a gesture with your hands, let them return to the resting position by your side. Don’t wander around the room. If you want to go to a different location – go there and then stop. Speak to one person at a time and maintain eye contact.

Your voice has volume, tone and pace. Realize you will speak faster and at a higher pitch than you did when you were rehearsing. Be aware of this tendency. Speak loudly enough so everyone in the room can hear you, but not so loudly that people in the front rows are covering their ears.

Audience – Know your audience. Don’t be like William Safire who said, “Is sloppiness in speech caused by ignorance or apathy? I don’t know and I don’t care.” What does your audience know about the topic? Try to anticipate their questions. During the presentation, seek reactions, questions and concerns. This makes your appear accessible and allows you to move through the topic with your audience following along closely.

If possible greet audience members as they arrive. Ask why they came or about their interests in the topic. Adjust your presentation plans to better meet their needs. Finally keep in mind the audience is not your enemy – they want you to succeed. Nobody came out to watch you flail or fail. Engage people and make them partners in your successful talk.

Relax – Remember the physical reactions you experience in front of a group are normal. When confronted with a stimulating situation the body resorts to the “fight” or “flight” response. Your pulse increases. Adrenaline releases into your bloodstream. Your body prepares for a physical response but you have to stay put!

Sometimes your mind generates negative thoughts. Michael Pritchard said, “Fear is that little darkroom where negatives are developed.” Deal with your fear by building a solid foundation (know your topic!) and feeling confident in your message. Take a few deep breaths. Mild exercise or stretching can disperse some of the anxious energy. Smile.

Ending – Like the touchdown of an airplane, your presentation must be landed correctly. Begin the end by summarizing your key points. Next ask for audience questions and clarify any remaining issues. Then make your closing statement, which should encourage some action. What do you want the audience to do? Memorizing the last few lines ensures a strong close. Finally smile and nod your head.

If the thought of speaking in public makes you anxious, you probably will be. However if you P.R.E.P.A.R.E., the level of your anxiety will be lover and you will deliver a better, more effective speech. Who knows, you may find you like giving the eulogy better than being in the casket!

Richard Highsmith, rick@leadersinstitute.com, is a senior instructor for The Leader’s Institute. He has twenty-five years experience training and coaching. He has built and sold two successful businesses. To learn more about becoming a High Impact Leader visit our website at http://www.fearlessandpersuasivespeaking.com or call Rick toll-free at 1-800-872-7830X102.

New York, Fearless Presentations, Two Powerful Days that Give Structure, Coaching, and Banish Fear

Connie Timpson — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:35:09 +0000

Fearless – the ultimate goal of our Fearless Presentation’s course. For many the thought of standing in front of a room full of people to talk about something that you may even know better than anyone else, is the last thing you want to do. But you need to do it. It is part of your job. You may have even missed promotions because of your fear and lack of confidence. What a dilemma. It does not have to be. It is simply a matter of saying yes to training, learning new techniques, and coaching. Over the span of the two-day course held in Manhattan, some people grew from zero to sixty.

Everyone gained a structure that allowed him or her to relax even more. A flexible, but powerful structure can turn memorized and struggling, into spontaneous and convincing presentations. I could see the anxiety physically disappear when we used a different way of thinking and learning, and worked through one fact – 90% of all nervousness does not show!It was like a sea of cartoon bubbles over the heads of participants.Wow! What a relief.

I thought people could see my hands sweat, hear me every time I gulped for air. Nope! Not at all. Not one bit. There is no risk, no pushing or prodding, just safe, positive learning with coaching. Yes, positive coaching that encourages and teaches. Perhaps the best way to tell you about it is to share a comment by one of the participants, Jessica Albrecht.

“The best part about this program is that “the presentation” was broken into small, easy to understand, actions, and slowly advanced with time. It all made perfect sense and evolved over two days – Brilliant!”

As the new year begins, becoming a stronger more confident presenter should be put right at the top of your “to do” list. It can open new opportunities and advancement for you. Invest in yourself and grow!

By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor/Performance Coach/The Leader’s Institute

Public Speaking Classes and Leadership Boot Camp

Doug Staneart — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:35:12 +0000

Hey Everybody,

I’ll be teaching a number of classes coming up in the next couple of months as will a number of our senior instructors. The much-anticipated Leader’s Institute Leadership and Public Speaking Boot Camp is coming up in about a month. We still have a few seats left, but hotel space is very limited. If you’d like to attend, make sure and register ASAP. Register for the Leadership Boot Camp on Feb 25-28, 2010.

Quick Leadership Tip: Establish Solid Trust before Offering Advice. We often want to make a splash when we are put into leadership positions, but remember that your team is much more likely to follow you if they trust you. Establish trust first, then lead.

Upcoming Fearless Presentations Classes:

Feb 8-9 Manhattan <
Feb 11-12 Baltimore <
Feb 18-19 Seattle <
Mar 4-5 Orlando <
Mar 11-12 San Diego <
Mar 18-19 Toronto <
Mar 25-26 Chicago <

Quick Public Speaking Tip: Practice with a Person. A lot of us try to practice our speeches or presentations alone or in front of a mirror. However, that kind of practice is likely to make us more nervous. We are our own worst critic, so we tend to knitpick ourselves when we practice alone. We also don’t get the visual and verbal feedback that a friend or coworker can show us, so we may not know if we are communicating clearly. Instead, grab a trusted friend or coworker and run through yur presentation with them. They can offer valuable insight.

Put Sizzle in Your Presentation With Unique Stories

Connie Timpson — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:17:08 +0000

By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor/The Leader’s Institute

What?! Snow in Florida? Inside the gates of one of America’s most visited attractions? Yes, Cinderella lost her slipper in the slush, and it is raining Iguanas in the sunshine state. I dressed most of our plants as blanket mummies hoping to keep freezing temperatures out and plant life in.

Our phone rings and the caller speaks “lizard.” The Iguana tale has captured our imagination, tickled our funny bone and kept our attention. We humans love a good story, and Florida’s unladylike winter temperatures have given us a colorful book of them. (The iguanas will scurry back up the trees as soon as warmer temperatures defrost their little innards.)

Put Stories Into Your Presentation. Use your own stories to help you make a point or explain a premise. Your audience will understand and relax much more quickly if you tell them a story.

Stories of the “unusual” capture our attention. We remember the “different” story. We even repeat it. If you want to get your audience’s attention while making a presentation, tell them a unique story about yourself that supports your main point.

Persuade me to listen to the facts – wrap your stories in the cloak of drama, humor, or the oddities of real life. The sooner you tell me a colorful story to make a point – the quicker you will get buy-in.

Put compelling and visual details into your storytelling – call your iguana by name, tell us about walking him on a leash and how you are rescuing the once “pet” iguanas from the freeze.

I checked in with our backyard lizards and they are content to let sleeping lizards lie, but I will be telling stories about them!

Free Presentation Coaching Session

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:40:45 +0000

Have an important speech coming up, or did you just finish a presentation that just didn’t go so well?

Our toll-free 800 number is always manned by one of our actual presentation class instructors, and they can often help you with a free one-on-one phone coaching session. Of course the best way to get long-term public speaking confidence and over come the fear of public speaking is with a structured program like the Fearless Presentations® Class, but often, our coaches can give you a few simple tips that can help you immediately.

Complete the Form Below or
Call One of Our Instructors Toll-Free at (800) 975-6151

Upcoming Fearless Presentations® Classes

Doug Staneart — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 02:03:43 +0000

Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Course: If you want to present with more poise and confidence, then the Fearless Presentations^® two-day public speaking seminar, our most popular and convenient presentation skills workshop, is a great choice. Seats are still available for the following upcoming classes:

- Jan 19-20 Los Angeles
- Jan 21-22 Atlanta
- Jan 26-27 Washington, DC
- Jan 28-29 Phoenix
- Feb 8-9 Manhattan
- Feb 11-12 Baltimore
- Feb 18-19 Seattle

Fearless Presentations® Coaching Session in Las Vegas

Doug Staneart — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:36:15 +0000

Fearless Presentations Coaching

We had a select group of people join us for our Fearless presentations coaching session in Las Vegas in early December. One of our attendees traveled all the way from India to spend a couple of days getting one-on-one coaching from the CEO of The Leader’s Institute, Doug Staneart. All of the first time participants came from out of state (or country) to attend this one, but we did have a graduate coach come back for her third time. We are always excitied to see our participant want to continue to grow!

Grizzard Communications Conducts On-Site Public Speaking Class

Richard Highsmith — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 23:45:39 +0000

Rick Highsmith was invited back to Grizzard for the fourth public speaking class for employees on December 9th and 10th. Pat D’Alba, Senior Vice President, commented, “Immediately after taking the class, I used the techniques I had learned to close a very large deal for us. We want all our employees who interact with our clients and prospects to complete Fearless Presentations.”

The latest Grizzard Emplyees to Complete Fearless Presentations

Classes can be held on-site for companies at significant savings over public classes. Visit The Leader’s Institute website to learn more.

Rick Highsmith
Keynote Speaker

Go Behind The Scenes With A Veteran Presentation Coach

Connie Timpson — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:08:19 +0000

By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor The Leader’s Institute

It looks so easy! Just put on a mic, talk to the camera, walk around, sit down, do a couple of interviews, be smart, funny, serious, relate to the viewer, and get more out of your guest than anyone ever has.

Above all else, do not sweat. No one likes shine on TV…and try, try not to stumble. See, I told you it was easy. Not!

The problem is that Viewers are really fickle. It takes them less than 20 seconds to hit the zapper and decide your future. Talk about a stressful job interview!

In many ways presenting a television program is like teaching someone how to make a Fearless Presentation. No matter the kind of presenter, or kind of presentation, the person making the presentation needs an experienced coach for guidance. Successful presentations come from a powerful combination of personality and structure.

Tell stories that will get my attention. Tell the story behind the facts. Help me get to know the person living the issue. Explore the issue through her eyes.

Be clear and concise. Get to the point! No one has time for rambling, and please don’t confuse me.

Deliver your message with energy passion. Infuse the presentation with energy, and persuade me to fall in love with the issue.

Now the caveat – forget the camera, while it records every stray-hair, slip of the tongue, and silly question that sometimes leaks out when the red light turns on.

Speaking To An Audience Or To A Camera
Promise expertise, energy, passion and depth – and deliver on the promise. Every audience is assailed with zillions of images and messages every day. As a presenter, you are competing against everything from Smart Phones to the sleep deprived person who stayed up all night sending proposals and email to clients trying to land the next big job. Your audience needs to feel that you have something they need, that something exciting is about to happen. If you are passionate and excited about what you say – your audience will put down their Blackberry’s and be excited with you.

Get a presentation coach – An experienced coach can help you check your nerves and make quick, substantial growth before you try out your presentation in front of an audience.

A good coach sees behind the presentation and works with you to get your “best self” in front of a group or camera.

Believe in yourself. Let Yes I can, become your internal mantra. There is no room for self-doubt.

Be who you naturally are. The best thing you can give any audience is yourself, so BE YOURSELF! No persona, no stand in personality, no “someone you would like to be like.”
Take control of your nerves – How can you help people understand a topic or point when your nerves press against your voice box and threaten to make your voice crackle or make you sound like you are 15? It is all about psychology - yes you can!
Tap the “caring emotional” part of your brain – the one that reassures you that you know the subject very well. Hold tight to the fact that you are prepared and have confidence that no one could do this better than you can.

Other than all that – it’s easy!

Connie Timpson is a coach, instructor and keynote speaker based in Jacksonville, Florida <http://www.leadersinstitute.com/connietimpson> . Her keynote speech, Don’t Faint, It’s Just a Camera is a light-hearted and fun keynote presentation where Connie uses her experience as a TV journalist, news director and trainer to help the audience understand that the camera is just an electronic box. She will help you keep your wits and check your nerves, and keep your head off the floor and out of the lion’s mouth. She is available for association meetings, corporate meetings and conventions, and other keynote events and breakout sessions.

Public Speaking Workshop in D.C.

Richard Highsmith — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 23:05:49 +0000

A group of aspiring public speaking attended the Fearless Presentations workshop in Washington, D.C.. The Instructor was Rick Highsmith, a Senior Instructor for The Leader’s Institute. Rick offered three students some one-on-one coaching the evening between the 2-day workshop. “The special coaching from Rick was extremely helpful. I learned about how to project my personality in to my speech. The class was great! The coaching was extraordinary.” Many people working to master the skills of public speaking find the coaching to be a key element in taking them to the next level. Learn more about coaching by clicking on the word coaching. Rick is available for one-on-one coaching. Email him at Rick@LeadersInstitute.com to learn more.

How to persuade an audience during a persuasive speech?

Ann-Marie Gordon — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:25:36 +0000

How to persuade an audience during a persuasive speech?

Have you ever been in a meeting where half the room is in favor of your point, and the other half…well, you feel as if you have to do a whole lot more in order to get them to agree with you? This happens a lot in our personal as well as our professional lives. Sometimes, we have to be persuasive if we want to get our points across, and win over the other party. To achieve this, there are a few easy things that can be done in order to persuade an audience during a persuasive speech, one of which is to tell a story.

By telling stories, you are gaining the audience’s attention and piquing its interest. Sounds easy, right? We occasionally forget that stories can be a very persuasive and effective tool, and is usually simple to use in any situation. You are probably thinking that by giving numbers and percentages in order to convince your audience, you are coming across as very clever. Well, that’s probably true, but stop and think. Are numbers alone powerful enough to get your point across, and are they interesting enough to get your audience to believe in you? For example, if you are a salesperson for a software company, and you base your presentations to clients solely on your previous experience as a salesperson, or on the company’s history, do you think that will be enough to compel your clients to purchase your software? Most likely not. However, if you add a story about a specific client, and how it resulted in the company changing over to the new software, that can have a tremendous emotional impact on your audience. Your audience will probably be influenced by the stories you tell them. Stories can apply to a multitude of situations and circumstances. You want to use them as much as possible as a way to convince your audience that what you are telling them has real life application, beyond the numbers.

Storytelling, as a whole, takes on the specific role as the first part of the “convincing” of your audience. If, on top of telling stories, you tell your audience what you want them to do, all of a sudden, your stories become more powerful. For instance, let’s use the software salesperson example again. Telling your clients a story is great, but if you then add specific situations where they could use the software, it becomes a lot more convincing, much more so than if you were to waste time on material that the client is not interested in. You want to tell them “use this software in such and such situations”. Then, what will happen is that your audience can now relate to your story and by having formed an emotional connection to your example, they will be in a better position to buy in to what you are saying. This won’t mean that you’ll sell your software to everybody, but at least, you’re more convincing with greater passion, and emotion.

The last piece of a good story is to let your audience know about the “positives” of doing what you tell them to do. You basically tell them what will happen if they use your advice. For example, I was working in a manufacturing company as a Human Resource Generalist a few years ago. I was trying to convince the management team that using Training & Development would be a great advantage for the company. I didn’t really know how to persuade them. I realized that they knew what Training & Development was, but they didn’t know what the tangible benefits were. For them, it was more about spending money blindly, than helping the company. What does it mean for us to invest in our people? That was the question they were really asking. I decided to “show” them what it meant for them. I went ahead, and told them a story about the time when the company lost a huge contract because one of their engineers was not up to date with the technology used by the potential client. We lost the contract! I told them “if you use Training & Development as a global strategy, you are ensuring your place in the market, and you will not lose a big contract ever again”. That’s just a brief example of what this would look like in real life. In the end, you’re doing your audience a favor by telling them what happened to you (story), what they should do, and then the positives of it. You’re saving them time, and effort. By focusing on the positive take-home-message, (the morale of your story), it also gives them closure. Your audience will now know why you told them this story. This will be the “AH-HAH!” moment, where your audience will go “now I get it”.

Stories become increasingly valuable during “question and answer” periods, especially if the person asking the question is aggressive or negative towards you. I was teaching a class in San Diego last week, and was faced with such a situation. One of the participants was questioning one of the techniques I was explaining. Sometimes, we like to answer questions using logic: We have become so used to explaining the “why” of things, without ever considering the audience’s real-life experiences that it becomes increasingly difficult to convince our audience, or at the very least win them over and have them sympathize with us and believe in our cause. Using stories as a means to answer questions can be beneficial to the audience, as they can relate to the story told, as well as become less likely to come back with hostile or pessimistic comments in the future.

Stories are a great way to persuade an audience when delivering a persuasive speech. They add spice and feeling to your presentations, they allow your audience to relate to what you are saying, as well as convincing them without turning them off with the typical and tired numbers, figures, percentages and dry techniques that don’t really work anyways. So think back to the original question: have you ever been in a meeting where you had to convince half of the room of something? Try telling a story and be amazed at the results.

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Six- Synergy

Craig Wagganer — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:48:44 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Six- Synergy

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Here is a lesson we need to take to just about every part of our lives, including our presentations. Too often we prepare just wanting to get done. We don’t take time to really think of making an impact and making sure that our points are remembered and assimilated. We simply prepare the parts of the message, put it together, and when it makes sense we practice to make sure we don’t look foolish. Too often the goal of the presentation is to simply get done without making a fool of ourselves, accomplish this and we consider ourselves successful.

But there has to be a better reason to be making the presentation. We must be filling a need and their must be a purpose to what we are doing. When we go about preparing for the presentation we must know that material we are presenting is crucial to those who will hear it. It is important information they need. It is an ingredient in their lives that if they miss it, or forget it, will be the difference between a savory loaf of fresh baked bread and a fresh from the oven brick; just because you forgot a minute amount of yeast. To enjoy a slice of fresh baked bread would be much better than to simply eat the ingredients that go into the delight.

When we prepare our presentations we must see the importance of what we are doing. Then we can become creative to make sure that the message not only gets to the audience, but gets into them. Plan your presentations to take advantage of synergy. Involve the whole person in the experience and the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. Often presentations are an assault on two senses- hearing- after all we are talking, and sight- we all us some type of presentation software these days. But what of taste, touch and smell? If we can involve more senses in the learning experience that learning becomes more integrated, solicits greater involvement, impacts in a greater capacity, and makes the experience much richer, deeper and lasting.

Instead of asking, “Here are my three points, how can I relate them?” Ask, “Here are my points, how can I help my audience experience them?” Plan and prepare your presentations to be synergistic, you will get your audience beyond just attendance and get into their imaginations.

Craig Wagganer is a Keynote and Motivational Speaker specializing in Teambuilding, Leadership and Public Speaking

Public Speaking Fear Leads to Missed Opportunities

Doug Staneart — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:38:36 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmi_UUa8gUc]

Once you overcome the fear of public speaking, you’ll be amazed at how you capitalize on opportunities that you previously missed. If you experience stage fright or public speaking fear, then there is a good chance that you are missing opportunities. Have you ever had the opportunity to do something or say somthing and you hesitated? Then later, you kicked yourself because you know you should have acted. The Fearless Presentations Bootcamp is a presentation training course offered in Dallas, TX, that helps people become more powerful speakers and leaders so that they capitalize on these opportunities. Here is a video from Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, who talks about how presentation training can help.

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Five- Sound

Craig Wagganer — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:32:08 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Five- Sound

Have you ever been in a conversation, heard something and interrupted with, “What was that?” Many would say that sound is one of the most important senses we have. It allows us to listen, of course, but it also serves as an alert, or warning system. It is a special filter that our brains have the capacity to use to help us decide what we want and need to listen to, and what is not as important. Ever sit in a restaurant oblivious to the sounds around you until you catch a simple word from another conversation, your ears perk up, you motion to the person you’re with to be quiet and your strain to catch the conversation you were previously unaware of- all because one word you overheard? Stop right now, sit back and make take note of all the things you can hear but were previously unaware of, quite interesting.

When you are making a presentation your audience has many sounds going on around them, not just what you’re saying. So why not use that to your advantage. Besides your voice engage their hearing in activities that will help reinforce your message. Hearing a speaker on time management, there was a continuous clicking sound that was almost distracting, until the presenter mentioned the seconds pounding away on a watch. We had all been hearing it, but when we discovered what it was, it reinforced the value of time and the crime of wasting it.

A song played before, during or after a presentation can be a powerful things if the words are displayed and there is an obvious emotional connection to the presentation (just be aware that long (or even not-so-long) instrumentals can cause people’s minds to wonder. A loud noise that rattles the audience can make a vivid point if used wisely and timed properly. I attended a Good Friday service in which the pounding of a hammer against a nail could be heard in the background. Once when talking about teamwork I would randomly bang a loud cymbal. At the end I made the point that as part of a symphony a cymbal can be a very valuable instrument, while by itself it simply is nerve-racking- it made the point well.

When you plan a presentation consider how to involve the sense of hearing beyond just using your words. It may get you message to your audience beyond the ears and into their imagination.

Craig Wagganer is a Keynote and Motivational Speaker specializing in Teambuilding, Leadership and Public Speaking

Best Way to Eliminate Stage Fright

Doug Staneart — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:59:08 +0000

Sarah Gershman, President, Green Room Speakers –

I still wonder why performance triggers the flight or fight response – and believe that this may have something to do with a negative performance experience as a child – which left the child feeling somehow “attacked” so that every time after that when he/she is asked to speak – the “attack” feeling returns.

*******************************

Sarah, you asked above, “Why would fight or flight kick in?” That’s the key question. I’ve helped over 12,000 eliminate stage fright, and I’ve never witnessed fight or flight kick in with any of them. Fight or flight kicks in when a person is in danger and only has two choices. Stage fright can be eliminated by avoiding the circumstances where fight or flight would kick in.

Eliminating stage fright is actually a very easy process — once you understand that it is a process. The simple truth is that fear comes when we try anything new. If we have what we perceive to be a failure the first time, nervousness increases the next time. Confidence in the skill is developed as the person has a series of successes along the way.

A better analogy is learning to drive a car. The best way to gain confidence driving is to start in a parking lot with a parent or coach, and once you master the basic, go out onto the street and just do right-hand turns. Once you master that, make a few left-hand turns, and eventually make your way to the freeway. Every time you try something new in the car, you’ll feel nervous doing it until you have a few successes. After a few successes, though, each of the component parts becomes part of the sub-conscious – you’d think about what you are doing when you drive a car now. Most people learn public speaking by performing in a big speech — which is nuts. That would be like putting a 15 year-old into a car on the back of one of those car carriers you see at auto dealerships, getting the speed up to 60 MPH on the freeway, dropping the ramp down and rolling the car off the back. The kid in the car would have sheer terror, and just before the ramp is dropped down, the “flight” part of the fight or flight will kick in.

The bottom-line is that if you want to eliminate your public speaking fear, get a good coach and master the basics. Your fear will go away quickly.

Doug Staneart, America’s Fearless Presentations Coach

Audiences Are Selfish

Connie Timpson — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 15:52:27 +0000

You would think that your profound thoughts and words would be enough to make anyone listen. You want to tell them everything you know about the subject. You worked on your speech or presentation, put in some great language, big dollar words, that will make them understand that you are very smart. And let’s not forget your super duper, detailed, animated powerful Power Point slide show…that took you two days to create. You are sure to wow them!

A few minutes into the presentation you notice the evil texting impulse toying with the audience’s attention. You want to shout, “Blackberries, Smart Phones, put them down! Why were they ever invented?”

Oh….for when your audience is bored, and texting colleagues, looking stuff up on the Internet or playing games to keep themselves awake. You spot a couple of people quietly sneaking out, and you wonder why are these people so rude? I hate to tell you this, but it probably has more to do with “your presentation” than “them.”

Whose Presentation Is This Anyway?

Yours, of course! You created it. But who did you create it for? Was there a thought of what your self-absorbed, selfish audience might want or need to know? They are not impressed by your big, expensive words. In fact they didn’t buy into your use of high dollar language or your polished but tedious PowerPoint. They didn’t buy into your presentation because you did not invest in them.

You owe them! They have given you a half hour or an hour of their time. They are just as busy as you are. If they do not come away feeling enlightened, inspired or richer for the experience of hearing you speak, they will want their investment back – their time.

The Audience Has A Single Thought – What’s In It For Me?
You do not have to commission a survey to understand what your audience may want, but you do need to ask yourself a series of questions? Who are the people in your audience likely to be? What do they need and want to know? Are you offering them something new, a better understanding of the subject?

When you have determined what the audience wants – you can begin to put together your material in a clear, concise and interesting way. Make it audience focused.

Read Your Audience
Watch for their responses, engage them, get them to participate. React to their mood. Address your audience on their level. Use your natural gifts as a speaker. If you are enthusiastic show your passion for the subject, your audience will listen. Give them what they want and they will come to you for more.

Give The Leader’s Institute two short days of your time and we will give you a structure and the skills to become a top notch presenter. Your audience is a key element and we can teach you how to make them sit up and listen. Join us for Fearless Presentations at any one of our conveniently located courses across the USA.

Connie Timpson is a Sr. Instructor for The Leader’s Institute, specializing in Public Speaking, Team Building, Leadership and on-camera Coaching.

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Four- Sight

Craig Wagganer — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 19:42:56 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Four- Sight

What do you see when you participate in a presentation? Or better yet, what do people see when you are presenting? They see you, of course, and perhaps your flip charts and PowerPoint slides, but what else. We are presenting to generations that grew up with so much visual stimulation that they are waiting to see something “different” each time they view a presentation. PowerPoint has become cliché; flip charts have also become a useful, but retro medium. So how can we involve sight as a creative augment to our presentations?

Once speaking on the problem of commercializing Christmas I spoke in a Santa Claus outfit. There were several opportunities throughout the presentation to use the costume to help emphasize dramatic points. Likewise, speaking on an Easter Sunday on the real meaning of Easter, I spoke while dressed as the Easter Bunny. The comic relief was immediate, which was easily translated into many illustrations and illuminations concerning the subject material. Speaking to a group on an issue that needed to be taken seriously I wore a gorilla outfit, reminding them throughout the presentation, “not to monkey around with…..” The extra visual helped people to make the connection of the presentation points while becoming a constant illustration that I could refer to with appropriate gestures and comments.

We think we’ve helped the audience when we have made our display on a white board or flip chart- and these are great items to include. We often put up PowerPoint, or presentation slides that we have labored over concerning the content, font, size, color, pictures, animations, etc. All of which are fine, but don’t make the impression or connection they used to make.

Our personal movement, gestures and voice are the most important visuals that we can enhance to make better connections with the audience, but don’t overlook being creative. Give them something “else” to see. Once demonstrating the importance of prioritizing I saw a presenter place objects in a glass jar in descending size order. Every time we thought he couldn’t get more in the jar he would place something smaller in the jar, finally filling it with sand and then water. The point wasn’t that there is always room for more, but rather you better get the big things in first. I still remember the lesson because of the visual.

In your next presentation preparations take some time to be innovative while thinking, “What can I put before the audiences’ eyes to help them understand and integrate the message?” Maybe your message will get through their eyes and into their imaginations.

Craig Wagganer is a Keynote and Motivational Speaker specializing in Teambuilding, Leadership and Public Speaking

Boston Public Speaking Class- They Became Fearless!

Connie Timpson — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:19:14 +0000

by Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor/The Leader’s Institute

Lions, tigers and Public Speaking! Oh, my, many of us would rather become a lion tamer than a public speaker. In two days in historic Boston, this group of people, from varied industries, learned how to tame their fears and give powerful presentations.

The Leader’s Institute’s® Fearless Presentations® is a hands-on learning experience that will give you a concrete structure that builds confidence and sends fear scampering back to the forest.

Here is what one participant had to say, “The material covered was unique and applicable. I can implement what I learned at my next speaking engagement!”

If you get a knot in your stomach when you get up to speak, or feel that you need a little help getting to the next step, Fearless Presentations® is the course for you. Join us for a public seminar taught in many major cities across the US and Canada. Just click on The Leaders Institute® for a listing of upcoming classes.

A really good public speaker is developed – not borne. Let us help you develop your natural talents. I love being able to help people give up fear and grow as individual presenters. Join us for two days that can help you become a dynamic speaker and a more sought after employee in these tough economic times.

Connie Timpson is a Sr. Instructor for The Leader’s Institute

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Three- Smell

Craig Wagganer — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:03:05 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Three- Smell

I was working outside the other morning and the air was fresh and blowing. The smell of rain was drifting about and it made me want to close my eyes and just breathe deeply. I don’t often contemplate the olfactory sense, but it is an important part of our life experience. Haven’t you ever been traveling down a country road and been smacked in the face by the pungent smell of a skunk? Or maybe you’ve had the opposite experience of waking up in the morning to the smell of bacon sizzling on a griddle. We wrinkle our nose and turn away from the irritating smell of vinegar, while breathing deeply and soaking in every last whisper of aroma as we drive past our favorite coffee stop.

Unfortunately when we think of presentations we usually don’t think about the sense of smell. Well, unless it is an ungracious comment after we are done. But smell is one of the five senses we have that help us understand and make sense of the world. It can also be a powerful tool in making presentations more meaningful and the lessons last longer.

I was once speaking on the power of looking forward. It was the dead of winter in Minnesota and the thoughts of the coming spring was a thought everyone could easily relish. I planted several “spring scented” candles inconspicuously around the venue and had them lit as I began the presentation. As I talked about the power of looking forward, and illustrated it with the desire for spring, it was as if the people could actually smell spring coming, in fact they could! The minds desire for the next season, along with the fragrant aroma of its coming, made a powerful impact on the audience and made the message more clear and applicable to their situations. By involving another sense they were lifted to a greater plane of understanding and application.

Our sense of smell is one that makes connections. How many times have you been driving somewhere, or walking along a street, taken a deep breath and remarked, “That smells like…” and made a connection to a certain memory or experience? Whenever I smell fresh baked bread I am transported back to my childhood memories of Sunday morning, driving to church in our 1956 Chevy, and passing the Wonder Bread Bakery. If we can creatively involve the sense of smell in a presentation we have helped our audience make an immediate connection to a memory or experience, or even better, we created a new memory or experience for them through the creativity of our presentation message.

There is a verse in the Bible that talks of the prayers of the saints as being a sweet smelling aroma. When presenting on that perspective of our prayers before God, I had several “sweet smelling’ candles lit so that the aroma would be clear to everyone’s noses. This simple illustration made an immediate impact and lasting impression on the audience and the power of their prayers from God’s perspective.

When you have prepared your next presentation ask yourself if there is a way to incorporate the sense of smell to your audience into your presentation experience? It may get the message out from under their noses and into their imaginations.

Craig Wagganer is a Keynote and Motivational Speaker specializing in Teambuilding, Leadership and Public Speaking

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact

Craig Wagganer — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 21:10:30 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part Two- Taste

A great meal is a great memory. I can’t remember every meal I’ve eaten (although I carry the evidence), but I can remember certain times that were outstanding. A good public presentation is that way, it is memorable- like a great taste that lingers in the mind long after the palate has moved on to something else. When preparing a presentation it is a good idea to consider taste and how you can get it involved into your presentation.

Consider your next presentation, what taste comes to mind? That may sound like a silly question, but if the material you are presenting is important and you want your audience to remember it, involve as many senses as possible. Taste may seem like a difficult consideration, but if you think about it and let your creativity guide you, it may be possible to add something that will make your presentation a very memorable experience.

When preparing your presentation, does a specific taste come to mind? How can you incorporate that into your presentation? Can you use that in a clever and innovative way to reinforce the message? Don’t be afraid to try new things, new ways. Your creativity may set you and your message apart and impact your audience. You may be able to take your material from their mouth to their imaginations.

Craig Wagganer is a Keynote and Motivational Speaker specializing in Teambuilding, Leadership and Public Speaking

Public Speaking Workshop in Atlanta

Richard Highsmith — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:20:21 +0000

Atlanta Fearless Presentations Seminar

A group of hardy souls made their way through the terrible weather in Atlanta to attend the Fearless Presentations seminar on September 17th and 18th. While the weather outside was frightful, the class must have been delightful because half of the participants signed up for continuing education opportunities. Several will be attending the Public Speaking Secrets Mastermind in Washington, D.C. on November 8-9, 2009.

Why don’t you consider joining us to take your public speaking ability and skill set to the NEXT level. Rick Highsmith, Author and Senior Instructor will be coaching the members of the class to master the secrets of a great presentation. See you in D.C.

Rick Highsmith

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact- Part One- Touch

Craig Wagganer — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 04:39:31 +0000

Public Speaking Ideas- Audience Participation Adds Impact

Communication has changed. My dad grew up listening to radio. The family would gather around and sit attentively as the radio broadcast news, variety shows, and serials. I grew up with television. Not only did I have something to listen to, but my eyes were involved as well. My kids grew up with Atari; a simple video game system that involved the ears, eyes and simple hand movements. My grandkids have interactive games that include all the senses (with maybe the exception of smell). The point is it takes more to get reception than it did in generations past. To make sure our message is heard and remembered we must involve more of the total person than just the ears. Our senses are daily bombarded with myriads of impressions. If we are going to give presentations that make an impact and are memorable we must use very sense available to impact our audience.

Speaking to a group of people about how easily we let things slip through our grasp, I handed out hotel-sized bars of soap and had them write the three main points on the outside wrapper. Those little soaps are hard to hold onto and slip though the grasp very easily. The small bars of soap made an easy and memorable illustration; it also gave the participants something other than paper to use, feel, and even smell. Writing on and holding on to the little soaps helped them pay attention and reinforced the learning. It is also something more likely to be kept and pondered than notes on a piece of paper.

The more senses we can get involved into our presentations the more enjoyable and memorable they will be. As we are speaking if we can put something in their hands that can reinforce the message we will also be successful in getting it into their heads. The small bars of soap mentioned above were easily accessible at a local hotel chain that was more than happy to donate them to the assembly.

Too often we think our passion will be enough. If we can create some excitement and enthusiasm with our voice and gestures it will be contagious and will connect. Although that can be true, to engage as many senses as possible will help us create a more long-lasting impression, one in which the content, not just the presentation or presenter, will be remembered. When we have crafted a presentation only a little more thought will help us tap into a innovative way to help the audience connect to the message and remember its key points.

When speaking on the power of communication to do damage, I handed out tongue depressors for the title and ideas to be written on. Years later someone showed me their tongue depressor and commented on how much it had meant and that they continued to carry it with them in an effort to be careful how they talked to and about people.

The next time you prepare a presentation be creative and think of an object you can put in the peoples hands that will carry your message from their hands to their imaginations.

Craig Wagganer is a Keynote and Motivational Speaker specializing in Public Speaking.

10 Year-Old Keynote Speaker to Dallas ISD

Doug Staneart — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 22:34:38 +0000

This 10 year-old kid is going to go far. Very inspirational keynote speech deliivered to his teachers and administrators at a Dallas ISD convention. You’ll love this.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTY03nrkJo8]

Posted by Doug Staneart, Keynote Speaker and author in Dallas, Texas

Presentation Tip: Narrow Down Your Topic

Doug Staneart — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:59:17 +0000

“Narrow down your speech to five or fewer key points and use examples and stories to validate your points. This makes your presentation easier to deliver and easier for your audience to agree with you.” — Doug Staneart, Fearless Presentations Bootcamp

Public Speaking Tip – Memorize Your Speech. No Don’t

Connie Timpson — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 18:38:44 +0000

By Connie Timpson/ Sr. Instructor at The Leader’s Institute

“It’s not that long. I can memorize it.” Maybe. But why would you? Memorizing speeches sets you up for anxiety and possible failure. It robs you of spontaneity and creative thought. If someone interrupts your speech to ask a question, you may find that the tumblers on the memory vault have shifted and the words are locked up.

Nothing is worse that standing in front of an audience with panic threatening to knock you to your knees. (Although that might get you some sympathy.) As you search for the words, the audience searches for the exit.

If you accept a speaking invitation, use your intellect, expertise, a three-point outline and all the spontaneity and enthusiasm you can muster. Spontaneity, passion and enthusiasm all provide an instant connection to your audience, and an open door to information and ideas that you have stored in the bank vault. You could become known as an expert who dazzles audiences, rather than the speaker who lost his or her words.

To become a first rate speaker, join us at The Leader’s Institute for Fearless Presentations. Two days that will change your life as a speaker.

Baltimore Public Speaking Class

Doug Staneart — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:36:05 +0000

August 13th and 14th found a large group of students looking to improve their presentation confidence and public speaking skills in Baltimore, Maryland. The public speaking class was a success with all participants rating improvement in every measured area. A number of the members elected to take advantage of The Leader's Institute continuing education opportunities, including presentation coaching. There is no quicker way to “get your legs under you” in public speaking than Fearless Presentations.

Don’t Faint, It’s Just A TV Camera

Connie Timpson — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 22:40:23 +0000

By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor/The Leaders Institute

Relax, Mike Wallace rarely does interviews anymore, and Nancy Grace is only interested in scandal. It’s just you, a camera crew, lights so bright that you wish you had worn shades, a microphone cord running up your shirt or blouse just to remind you, “Make no mistake. We’ve got you!” And oh did I mention a journalist, looking for the next big story that will punch his or her ticket to the next biggest market? Or at least get a good enough quote to put your face above the fold on the evening paper.

And by the way….it’s a bad hair day, and a bad color pantsuit for the camera. But hey…no pressure!

Okay, let’s roll people. The interview belongs to the 24-hour news media!

Now rewind the tape: You take control of the interview. That means understand their craft to better control your message. Today’s media has “next minute” deadlines, they are under a lot of pressure to fill many empty hours.

They key is – Do not let them push you. Give them what you want and can give them. When pushed – humor is a good push back.

Be Mentally and Physically Prepared

Ø Be confident – you have what they want – there is no story without you and your information.

Ø Be prepared to answer any question – know your subject in people terms. Tell “real people” stories to get the lead or be above the fold. Statistics are dry and boring, wrap them in graphic language that brings their findings to life. Or as Paul Brodeur of the New Yorker said, “Statistics are human beings with the tears wiped off.”

Example “22% of American women smoke.”
Or “If you stop to have a cigarette at the smoking lounge in Atlanta airport, look around. If four of you are women, smoking at the same time – one of you will likely die from a disease directly linked to smoking.”

Ø Set a goal for the interview – both for how you want to be perceived as a person, and what you are willing to say and what you want to cover.

You Keep Control Of The Interview

Ø Talk directly to the interviewer. Forget about the camera. You want to look calm and in control. It is a conversation, not a performance. The camera will follow you and record the best parts of what you say.

Ø Keep answers short to avoid being edited. Practice answering questions in a 10-15 second sound bite. If the journalist asks a follow-up question great. But it is far better to edit yourself. Your best words can be swept into the deleted bin by someone who has news timings higher on the “gotta have list” than getting all the answers.

A sigh, frequent blinking, licking your lips, shaky hands, pinched voice, the camera sees, hears and records all of it. Your goal is to let the camera see and hear someone who is composed, very smart and friendly.

Ø Watch Your Body Language Respond to the interviewer. Relate to the interviewer as if you have just made a friend. Even if it becomes combative you will look like the good guy.

Ø Sit naturally. That means, sit up straight so that you look confident and controlled, but not so straight that you look uncomfortable or “trying to perform for the camera.”

Ø Use your hands. The temptation is to clasp them or hold onto something such as a pen. Gesture as you would during a natural conversation. Be very careful not to let nervous gestures become part of your response to questions. It’s just a TV camera.

“What do you mean JUST a TV camera?” It feels like I am looking into a hungry lion’s mouth, with a pushy journalist telling it to eat me! It sees, hears and broadcasts even what I do not want to say or hear later. Just ask John Edwards, Mark Sanford, or even Caroline Kennedy. And High Def sees every flaw you have, oh yes, wrinkles, botox needle-marks or the spec of chocolate on your tie.

And did I say there are no do-overs and second takes? If you can’t breathe, your lips won’t move, you stumble or…fall, it makes you look more human. And television producers love a good human story.

Connie Timpson is a keynote speaker based in Jacksonville, Florida. Her keynote speech, Don’t Faint, It’s Just a Camera is a light-hearted and fun keynote presentation where Connie uses her experience as a TV journalist, news director and trainer to help the audience understand that the camera is just an electronic box. She will help you keep your wits and check your nerves, and keep your head off the floor and out of the lion’s mouth. She is available for association meetings, corporate meetings and conventions, and other keynote events and breakout sessions. To book Connie for your event, call The Leader’s Institute Speakers Bureau at 1-800-872-7830.

Leadership Tip of the Day

Doug Staneart — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:50:43 +0000

“People will support a world that they help create. Get input from your team and they will support your decisions.” – Doug Staneart, keynote speaker and author for The Leader’s Institute.

Enthusiasm Can Turn Boring Material Into Exciting Material

Connie Timpson — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 21:01:44 +0000

Enthusiasm Can Turn Boring Presentation Material Into Exciting Presentations
By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor The Leader’s Institute

Chris Martin of Coldplay believes that enthusiasm is more important than just about anything when it comes to wowing crowds.” We rely more on enthusiasm than actual skill,” he told 60 Minutes’ Steve Kroft. “Whatever you do, do it enthusiastically and people will like it more. “I can’t dance like Usher. I can’t sing like Beyonce. I can’t write songs like Elton John,” he said. “But, we can do the best we can with what we’ve got. We just go for it .” And repeatedly, Cold Play brings the crowd to its feet.

Enthusiasm, however, is not owned by performing artists. Bring it to your work, your presentations. You say “I can’t do that.” And I say, “Yes you can.”

All you have to do is follow the advice of my favorite English Professor. Professor Chase turned “Old English” into vivid, memorable stories, by using speed, changes in volume lively movement, bigger gestures, and altering the tone to fit the emotion of the message. Oh, did I mention that he jumped on his desk hypnotizing us with soliloquies from Mc Beth?

Professor Chase gave students information and told stories like they should be told; lively, with gestures that matched the story, change of tone and volume. And he used the whole room to tell his tales. The bad guys sounded really bad and the mysteries he told, pulled you right into the land of bards and wizards.

Like Chris Martin, Professor Chase understood the power of enthusiasm. Like all good communicators, both men bring life to words. Use these five tools to turn an okay performance or presentation into a presentation that your colleagues and boss will envy. You can learn how to put enthusiasm into your presentation and become a first class speaker in Fearless Presentations a two day course with The Leader’s Institute.

Speed – put your foot on the gas to create interest and drama

Volume – get your audience to listen by raising & dropping the volume

Movement – create interest and energy by moving

Bigger Gestures – go on, give up a little control. Talk with your hands. Keep your audience’s attention through bigger gestures that have impact and drama; and keep your audience’s attention.

Tone – change the tone to stress main points of your presentation. Put emphasis on the points that you want your audience to remember.

The best information can be no better than the presenter.

“You” bring the magic to your presentation.

Go on, be an enthusiastic presenter of information.

Make people say, “wow!”

Top 5 Myths about Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:40:32 +0000

The Top Five (5) Biggest Myths about Public Speaking Fear and Stage Fright

By Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute(R)

It’s time to set the record straight. ANYONE can be a fantastic, world-class speaker with a little bit of training, a little bit of coaching, and a little bit of practice. It doesn’t take years of study and practice, and it doesn’t take thousands of dollars of investment. One of the hardest things to get across to new presenters is the immutable fact that just about everything that you have ever learned about public speaking and creating good business presentations is flat out WRONG!

The following are some of the biggest myths about stage fright and public speaking training:

Myth #1: Good Speakers have a Natural Talent (Born Speakers)

This one always makes me laugh because no one comes out of the womb speaking. In fact, for the first couple of years, our entire speech is “Goo goo gaa gaa”. Granted, if you have a nice sounding voice, you might have an advantage in front of a group, or if you are stunningly good looking, you might command attention better. However, most great speakers become great at presenting because they really work at it. Here is the real secret that the academics, the toasting clubs, and the seminar leaders won’t tell you. Public speaking is an EASY skill to master if you practice the right way. However, instead of doing things to decrease their nervousness, most new speakers work really hard to try to hide their nervousness. What tends to happen is that the tricks and gimmicks that we use only make us more nervous.

Myth #2: I’m Way More Nervous than Everyone Else

Surveys show that 95% of the population admit to feeling public speaking fear or stage fright. Surveys also show that over 45% of the population admit that the stage fright that they feel is so great that they avoid opportunities to present in front of groups. One of the first things that we share with people when we coach them as speakers, or when they come through one of our public speaking classes or presentation seminars, is that most of the stuff that happens to us when we get nervous is invisible to the audience. For example, just before we start to speak, most of us will start to feel our heart beating more quickly and forcefully. Some people will get sweaty palms or feel the butterflies in their stomach. We might feel light headed or even lose our train of thought. What do all of these things have in common? They are things that we FEEL, but are absolutely transparent to the audience. The problem that typically occurs, though, is that when we feel these symptoms of nervousness, we sometimes panic, and we might begin to feel even more nervous. What you want to remember is that other people who are presenting feel nervous too. You’re not alone. The good news is, that if you reduce your nervousness, you will have a distinct advantage over the other 95% of presenters.

Myth #3: Constructive Criticism (Critiques) is the Best Way to Improve

Ever since that first oral report or book report that we each gave in high school, we’ve been told that constructive criticism or critiquing our speeches will improve the way the we speak in front of groups. It was reinforced in speech class, communications class, or whatever your High School or University called it. It was reinforced again when we went to that Toastmasters group and the grammarian and another speaker-in-training gave us constructive feedback. However, this particular technique has never, ever worked. Here’s why. The only way to get constructive criticism is to first have a failure — and if you don’t have a failure, then the job of the critic is to find something wrong with what you did. Anytime we do something for the first time and have a failure, we get more nervous the next time that we attempt it (if we have the courage to do so). A good coach won’t use this technique much. Instead, the coach will show the person how to succeed in public speaking, and then praise the presenter as he/she moves toward that goal.

Myth #4: Video Tape Feedback for Presentation Skills Training is Valuable

Okay, this one is somewhat true, but in a lot of cases, watching yourself speak on video when you are nervous will just make you more nervous. However, watching your video with a coach who will help you see improvements along the way will improve your confidence exponentially. Most of us are very critical of ourselves, so we will nit-pick our presentation nine ways to Sunday if we review it alone. So get a good coach before you start trying to use video tape as a tool.

Myth #5: It Takes Years to Become a Great Speaker

Public Speaking skill is just like any other skill in that when you practice and have a success, you feel more confident about yourself and you get better next time. So the key to becoming a great speaker fast is to have a series of successes quickly. Toastmasters is a great organization, but a lucky speaker might get a chance to give five speeches in two or three years, and there is a good chance that not every one of those speeches are going to be winners. So, after a couple of years, a Toastmaster won’t see a great growth in public speaking skills. When you go to a class at a University or Junior College, you might get to speak three times in a 12 week class, and after each speech, you’ll get the dreaded constructive criticism. So that way will take a while as well. However, if you want gain presentation skills quickly, find a way to deliver four to six presentations with a really good coach in a short period of time. Ideally, if you can do it in a couple of days, you’ll grow quickly. However, I’ve seen people have a lot of success by setting up a series of weekly speeches at the office or as a guest speaker at a Rotary Club or Chamber of Commerce meeting to get practice.

If We Used “Normal” Presentation Skills Teaching to Develop Other Important Skills

Here’s an example of another type of training that would be ridiculous if we tried it the way that most people attempt to gain public speaking skills. Let’s say that we use “normal” public speaking techniques to teach someone how to drive a car. (You can insert any skill into this example, by the way — learning to ride a bike, operating a computer for the first time, building something, baking a cake for the first time, etc.)

Myth #1: Good Drivers have a Natural Talent. If we sent every 16 year-old kid out onto the freeway with no training. A few of them might do well, but most are going to have crashing failures. The few that do well will be seen as “Born Drivers,” but the rest would be scared spitless of driving.

Myth #2: I’m More Nervous than Everyone Else. If you’re one of the 95% who had a failure on the freeway, but you still see a lot of people driving, you might believe you are the only one who is scared.

Myth #3: Constructive Criticism is the Best Way to Improve. Again, you’re still one of the 95% who just had the hair-raising experience on the freeway. Now you sit down in a classroom as one of your peers (or a teacher) rips apart your experience and tells you every little thing that you did wrong. Feeling better about the experience now?

Myth #4: Video Tape Feedback for Driving is Valuable. Now you go back and watch the video of your fiery crash. I wouldn’t blame you if you never drove again.

Myth #5: It Takes Years to Become a Great Driver. If, after you had the above experience, you only attempted to drive once every three months or so for about two minutes at a time, guess what? It will take a LOOOOOONG time to get better. Sadly, you probably never will.

Instead, get a good coach who you trust and conquer the fear now — just like you did when you were 15 or 16 years-old and you took driver’s education. Remember the techniques that we used back then? We got a little training and practiced with a coach right away, and we didn’t move on until we had a success. Remember, you couldn’t leave the school parking lot until you got really good at pulling in and out of a parking space.

Doug Staneart, is CEO of The Leader’s Institute, Small Business Workshops. He can be reached toll-free at 1-800-872-7830.

Stories – The Magic Elixir For Stage Fright

Connie Timpson — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:13:18 +0000

Stories – The Magic Elixir For Stage Fright

By Connie Timpson/Sr. Instructor/The Leaders’ Institute

We’ve all been there. You know the material. You have practiced and practiced. You are confident in the power of the message, yet there is a knot of nerves in your stomach threatening to knock you to your knees. Suddenly what you wanted to say has left your brain, and all you can think of is sitting down.

Now rewind. How can you eliminate this stomach wrenching, knee knocking fear before it starts? Tell more stories. Real life stories. Tell stories that paint a picture of your objective. As the story unfolds, your nerves will fade. You know your own stories so they are easy to tell. They add drama, humor and understanding. And for you, the magic elixir of the story soothes your stage fright.

Why put in a story when you have prepared a whole Power Point filled with impressive numbers. Because numbers are boring! Numbers are only impressive if you bring them to life. A statistic or finding is just that, a data set, unless you wrap the numbers in the power of a story. Any number can become a story or analogy that persuades an audience.

Example: Miami Herald – One in every 14 homes, or 7.2 percent of total housing units, was in some stage of the foreclosure process in the Cape Coral area on Florida’s west coast, compared to Las Vegas where the number was one in 13 homes, or 7.45 percent.

Turn those numbers into a “real life” story. Yesterday morning, I was walking around my neighborhood in Jacksonville, Florida and I started counting the “distressed” sale signs on the houses. Three years ago there were none. I used to count birds. Now when I walk into any cul-de-sac in the area and count off 14 homes, at least one of them will have a “distressed sale” “short sale” or bank repossession sign on the lawn. The reason is simple, a family took a gamble on an Adjustable Rate Mortgage, and it backfired on them.

Make boring statistics come to life
and your audience will “appreciate” not “tolerate” your presentation.

You can capture the attention of an entire room by telling a “a really good story.” Drawing on shared emotions and experiences, stories create rapport, interest in your subject, and buy in. The more stories you tell – the more lively your speech becomes, and the more relaxed and powerful you become as a speaker. Stories are the elixir to boredom, disinterest and most importantly, stage fright.

Fearless Presentations – Baltimore

Richard Highsmith — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 23:19:27 +0000

Fifteen participants are going to improve their public speaking skills in Baltimore on August 13-14. There will be a special coaching session the evening of the 13th for current and past graduates. Please drop me an email if you would like to participate.

Rick

Toastmasters can actually Cause Stage Fright & Presentation Fear

Doug Staneart — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:18:30 +0000

Toastmasters is a great place to practice presentation skills but can also cause public speaking fear. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

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Toastmasters is a fantastic platform to practice public speaking, but unfortunately, Toastmasters can often fall short in helping participants eliminate stage fright and public speaking fear. In fact, most of the people who go to a Toastmasters group or attend speech classes in High School or at a University come out with more public speaking fear than what they had before they attended the program. Doug Staneart is a keynote speaker from Dallas and CEO of The Leader’s Institute and in this short video, he’ll show you how to get the best out of public speaking coaching and Toastmasters programs.

Invest in Presentation Skills Training to Make More Money

Doug Staneart — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 12:04:28 +0000

Invest in Presentation Skills training because good business presentation delivery will make you money. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

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When You Make Good Business Presentations with Confidence, You will Personally Make More Money. Doug Staneart is a keynote speaker from Dallas and CEO of The Leader’s Institute. In this video, he shows how investing in presentation skills training for yourself is the single best investment that you can make in your future. Your peers, your company leadership, and your customers will judge your COMPETENCE by how much CONFIDENCE that you show when you communicate –especially when you are speaking in front of a group. People who present well get promoted faster, command higher salaries, and are esteemed more by their colleagues. A small investment in your communication skills can generate higher incomes for you for the rest of your life.

Advantages of Traveling to Attend a Training Seminar

Doug Staneart — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 11:06:00 +0000

http://www.leadersinstitute.com The return on investment for traveling to a presentation skills training seminar far outweigh the expense? Visit the link for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1IS2BJFqEI]

Is it Cost Effective to Travel to Attend Training Seminars? Doug Staneart is a keynote speaker from Dallas and CEO of The Leader’s Institute. In this video, he shows how to determine if your return on investment from attending training workshops out of town is large enough to justify the extra travel expense. When you travel out of town to go to a workshop, you are less distracted and can focus better on the material being taught in the seminar. You also get to utilize the skills covered in the training much FASTER. A small investment in time and airfare can generate higher incomes for the rest of your life.

Reduce Public Speaking Fear by Showing Up Early

Doug Staneart — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:52:03 +0000

Show up early to reduce presentation fear and stage fright. Other presentation tips as well. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePn_DAAJV0Y]

Fearless Presentations Presentation Tips. Doug Staneart is a keynote speaker from Dallas and CEO of The Leader’s Institute. In this video, he gives public speaking tips from his Fearless Presentations class that helps viewers become more prepared for their presentations by arriving to the presentation early. The hour before your speech is critical to your confidence. Making sure that your visual aids (PowerPoint Presentation) are set up properly well before you begin to present will reduce public speaking nervousness. If you great your audience as they enter the room, you can also reduce some of the jitters.

PowerPoint Presentation Tips and Presentation Skills Training

Doug Staneart — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 09:58:52 +0000

http://www.leadersinstitute.com PowerPoint Presentation Tips and training to create good a PowerPoint outline. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

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PowerPoint Presentation Tips. Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, gives PowerPoint tips from his Fearless Presentations class that help viewers more easily design PowerPoint Presentations and more easily write speeches and deliver good business presentations. Most PowerPoint Slideshows are BOOOORRING! The main reason has little to do with the presenter, but has a lot to do with how the presenter writes his presentation and even more to do with how the speaker prepares for the PowerPoint presentation.

Presentation Skills Training can Eliminate Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 05:22:05 +0000

http://www.leadersinstitute.com Developing Presentation Skills with a good presentation coach can eliminate stage fright. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

There are no born speakers. Presentation Skills are a learned skill set just like riding a bicycle or driving a car. If, when you deliver business presentations, you experience stage fright or the fear of public speaking, you can easily reduce your nervousness by investing in an experienced presentation coach. Fearless Presentations is a presentation training course offered in major cities all over the world, and here is a video from Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, who gives a few ways that a little training can eliminate stage fright.

Presentation Tips: How to Show Less Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 05:12:04 +0000

http://www.leadersinstitute.com Presentation tips to help reduce public speaking fear and design a good business presentation. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

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Presentation Tips from the Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Seminar. Keynote Speaker Doug Staneart, the CEO of The Leader’s Institute, begins a series of presentation tips from his Fearless Presentations class that helps viewers reduce public speaking fear and turn a good presentation into a world-class business presentation. This video identifies ways to keep the audience from seeing your stage fright.

Should I Travel to Attend a Presentation Training Course?

Doug Staneart — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 11:19:47 +0000

http://www.fearlesspresentations.com Does the return on investment for traveling to attend a presentation skills training outweigh the extra expense? Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1IS2BJFqEI]

Should I Travel Out of Town to Attend a Training Seminar? Doug Staneart is a keynote speaker from Dallas and CEO of The Leader’s Institute. In this video, he shows how to determine if your return on investment from attending a training program out of town is large enough to justify the expense of the travel. The advantages to traveling out of town are that you are less distracted and can focus on the material being taught in the program better. You also get to capitalize on the skills developed in the training program much FASTER. A small investment in travel can generate higher incomes for the rest of your life.

Making Effective Business Presentations will make You Money

Doug Staneart — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 15:45:54 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_w9Yq_jU3bA]http://www.fearlesspresentations.com Invest in Public Speaking Skills because effective business presentation delivery makes you money. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

Making Effective Business Presentations will Make You Money. Doug Staneart is a keynote speaker from Dallas and CEO of The Leader’s Institute. In this video, he shows how the single best investment that any person can make into his/her future would be to invest in public speaking training or developing presentation skills. The people around us judge our COMPETENCE by how much CONFIDENCE that we show when we communicate –especially when we communicate to groups. People who speak well get promoted faster, generate consistently higher salaries, and are esteemed more by their colleagues. A small investment in yourself can generate higher incomes for the rest of your life.

Presentation Tips Show Up Early to Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Doug Staneart — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 08:41:16 +0000

http://www.fearlesspresentations.com Presentation tip to arrive early to reduce public speaking fear and stage fright. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePn_DAAJV0Y]

Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Tips. Doug Staneart is a keynote speaker from Dallas and CEO of The Leader’s Institute. In this video, he gives public speaking tips from his Fearless Presentations class that helps viewers become more prepared for their presentations by arriving to the presentation early.

Presentation Training Free PowerPoint Presentation Tips Outline

Doug Staneart — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:33:02 +0000

http://www.fearlesspresentations.com Presentation training with Free PowerPoint Presentation Tips and a PowerPoint outline. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI14eaLjpEE]Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Tips. Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, gives public speaking tips from his Fearless Presentations class that help viewers more easily design PowerPoint Presentations and more easily write speeches and presentations.

Toastmasters – Does Toastmasters Reduce Public Speaking Fear?

Doug Staneart — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 04:27:49 +0000

http://www.fearlesspresentations.com Toastmasters can be a great way to practice public speaking skills but can also cause stage fright. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BhjixcpMo0]Toastmasters is a fantastic organization, in theory, but unfortunately, in practice, Toastmasters can often fall short. In fact, most of the people who go to a toasting club or speech class in High School or College come out with more public speaking nervousness than what they went in with. Here is a video from Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, who explains how this happens and why.

Public Speaking Tips: Less Speaking Fear in a Good Presentation

Doug Staneart — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 21:20:16 +0000

http://www.fearlesspresentations.com Public speaking tips from to help reduce public speaking fear and design a good presentation. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3o2plVZXOM]Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Tips. Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, begins a series of public speaking tips from his Fearless Presentations class that helps viewers reduce public speaking fear and turn a good presentation into a world-class presentation.

Stage Fright – Eliminate Public Speaking Fear in Business Presentations

Doug Staneart — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:14:03 +0000

http://www.fearlesspresentations.com Stage Fright can be Eliminated by developing Presentation Skills with a good public speaking coach. Visit our website for more free presentation training videos.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YtHIviqoQw]Presentation Skills are a learned skill set just like riding a bicycle or driving a car. If you experience stage fright or public speaking fear, you can reduce your nervousness by investing in an experienced public speaking coach. Fearless Presentations is a presentation training course offered in major cities all over the world, and here is a video from Doug Staneart, CEO of The Leader’s Institute, who gives a few ways that a little training can eliminate stage fright. View video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YtHIviqoQw

Chicago Fearless Presentations(R)

Doug Staneart — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:00:29 +0000

Another instructor, Ann-Marie Gordon, and I are in Chicago teaching another Fearless Presentations(R) class on the Magnificent Mile. I believe this is class number 43 here in Chicago. We’ll be posting some before and after shots later this week. Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

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Free Presentation Assessment: Let us know which of the key areas below would be most important to you improving your performance as a speaker:
	Reduce Public Speaking Nervousness Be more Clear and Concise I Want to Influence People, Persuade Better Communicate Better in One-on-One Situations Command an Audience Easier Think and Speak on My Feet Better Market My Ideas Better Design a Good Presentation Better Give Speeches without Notes Be Able to Practice Less Add Impact to Presentations Add Energy to Presentations Design PowerPoint Better Deliver PowerPoint Better

Public Speaking Course

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Presentation Skills Checklist

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Free PowerPoint Tip #4: Avoid Overuse of Animation in PowerPoint Slides

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Reduce the Data on Your PowerPoint Slides-Video PowerPoint Tip

Reduce the Data on Your PowerPoint Slides-Video PowerPoint Tip

Your PowerPoint slide should convey a simple concept at a glance.

Memorable Fearless Presentations Workshop follows the Super Bowl in Indianapolis, Indiana

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New PowerPoint Tip Video

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Consider Your Audience

Second- Involve the Audience

Third- Be Concise in Your Closing

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Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Workshop comes back to Sunny Miami Florida

The Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Workshop returns to Historic Boston Massachusetts.

YMCA of the USA includes Adding Impact to Presentations breakout session at their annual conference in Chicago, IL

Upcoming Public Speaking Classes-Fearless Presentations 2-Day Seminar

Below is a short list of the upcoming Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Classes. Click on any of the links below for locations and times of each of these two-day presentation skills seminars.

To register for any of these presentation skills classes, click here:

Public Speaking Tip-Stories and Examples Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Stories Make Presentations Easier to Follow and Easier to Understand

Stories Make Presentations Easier to Remember

Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

VIDEO: Stories Make Your Presentations More Memorable

VIDEO: Stories Make Your Presentations More Understandable

Fearless Presentations® Class in Phoenix, Arizona Allows Participants to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking at The Core Institute

Public Speaking Class in Houston, Texas Helps Participants Become More Effective Public Speakers

Public Speaking Class in San Diego Helps Participants Delivers Fearless Presentations

VIDEO-Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Public Speaking Tips Video: Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

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Where Public Speaking Fear Comes From?

Lower the Risk, Lower the Threat, Lower the Fear

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VIDEO-Reduce Public Speaking Risk and Reduce Public Speaking Fear

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Stories Make Presentations Easier to Follow and Easier to Understand

Stories Make Presentations Easier to Remember

Stories Reduce Public Speaking Fear

Fearless Presentations Public Speaking Class Beats the Heat in Dallas Texas

Video: Where Does Public Speaking Fear Come From?

Los Angeles Fearless Presentations Class in August Eliminates Fear for Young and Young at Heart

August and September Fearless Presentation Classes

August and September Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Classes

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August and September Fearless Presentation Classes

August and September Fearless Presentations® Public Speaking Classes

Click and of the links above for details about or to register for any of these public speaking seminars.

Self-Growth Website

Self-Growth Website

July 7-8 Detroit MI Fearless Presentation Public Speaking Class

July 7-8 Detroit MI Fearless Presentation Public Speaking Class

People Judge Your Competence by Confidence that You Show

Trainee Perception

August and September Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Classes

August and September Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Classes

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July and August Fearless Presentations^® Public Speaking Classes

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