This section hosts articles related to public speaking, writing articles/webcopy & presentation skill development.
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You have to give a presentation along with other people / groups. Would you rather be the first or last? What are the benefits of your decision?
The reason I ask this question is because I have to give a presentation about a technology project my team and I have worked on.
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Unless your presentation is part of a contest i.e. where somebody is judging you, there is probably no tactical advantage to going first or last.
I would start by developing the conclusion first. What is the purpose of your speech? What do you want your audience to take away from your speech? Do you want to inform them about some social issue?
Do you want to get them to take action on some social issue?
Once you determine that, start crafting a story that takes your audience up to your closing.
There used to be a module on Speech Organization in the Toastmasters Better Speaker Series. I’m not sure if they still use this example.
A young, city-slicker, travelling salesman was delivering a sales pitch to a group of older farmers.
After his pitch was over, he waited … and waited. Eventually, one of the farmers stood up, cleared his throat and said “Well young fellar, you sure know a lot and you had an awful lot to say but we prefer a fellar that bales his hay before he delivers it!”
That story has stuck with me over the years.
At its essence, shyness is merely a lack of self-confidence and skills to use in social settings. Difficulty in public speaking, whether it be to larger groups of people or even to smaller groups, is also related to a lack of self-confidence and a lack of skills.
Therefore, the easy answer is to increase your self-confidence and your public speaking skills. Easy to define but it takes a lot of work to make it happen. A lot of work, but readily achievable.
Assuming you are over the age of 18, finding and joining a local Toastmasters group can go a long way in reducing your shyness and increasing your self-confidence.
Whenever i read in school out of a textbook etc. i get nervous. After about 1 paragraph of reading i start to breathe weirdly, taking breaths before every word until i eventually can’t read. Can someone help me to stop this?
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Without knowing you and actually observing you read out loud, it appears you are experiencing performance anxiety.
Reading out loud is a challenging activity for many people. Its like a spotlight is on you and you feel that everyone is waiting for you fail. The words on the paper often take on a life of their own and start moving around so you can’t read them in order. Your breathing going wonky is a physical manifestation of your nervous energy. It has to get out somehow.
You ask a simple question, however providing you a comprehensive answer is anything but simple.
Anybody can give an impromptu speech. Delivering an impromptu speech is simply speaking about a topic that you have no advance warning about and speaking at short notice.
Note that I said anybody can do so, far fewer can do it effectively. It takes practice. You have to get used to answering questions and speaking out loud.
You ask a simple question, however providing you a comprehensive answer is anything but simple.
Anybody can give an impromptu speech. Delivering an impromptu speech is simply speaking about a topic that you have no advance warning about and speaking at short notice.
Note that I said anybody can do so, far fewer can do it effectively. It takes practice. You have to get used to answering questions and speaking out loud.
I would suspect that most responses to this question will say that it is both. I’m going to take a different approach and say that it can be both or either.
Let’s expand upon that a little. The question doesn’t ask about public speaking well, efficiently or productively. It asks about public speaking, arguably, in general terms.
Any time that you are talking to somebody else besides yourself, you are public speaking.
I’m going to amend this question to ‘When delivering presentations, what challenges do you encounter most frequently?
Whether I’m giving a presentation at my Toastmasters club, or out in the public, I find that there are a lot of logistics that are challenging.
I think the answer to your question lays within your question. How does one stay present … one stays present by actually staying present.
You might have to think about that one for a bit. From one perspective, the present i.e. now, is in relation to living in the past, which we can’t do and living in the future, which we can’t do either.
I’m going to take a contrarian perspective and disagree with your statement. There may be situations where you have to take that tact such as defending your thesis but for everyday speeches it would likely be perceived as being boring.
To start with, I don’t believe that it is a gift, more likely a skill.
Many con artists are known to have the so-called gift of the gab. I’m not seeing it as a good thing.
We aren’t born with the ability to talk to almost anybody on almost any subject. Therefore, it must be a skill. If it is a skill than with practise we should be able to become better at it.
You ask about creating opportunities to ‘make’ speeches. I’m unsure if you are asking how to create opportunities to create i.e. write speeches for others or if you are referring to opportunities for delivering speeches?
I’m going to run with the delivering speeches choice.
I believe that there are at least two types of speakers. The first one, using motivational speakers as an example, have one or a few presentations that they become really good at delivering. Many make their living doing so and become known in their field as the ‘go to’ person.
Your question doesn’t tell us what the special occasion is. Celebrating an anniversary or a delivering a eulogy, arguably both special occasions, would call for a different type of speech.
I would say that most likely if you have the opportunity to deliver a prepared in advance speech at a special occasion, you would want it to be inspirational. People don’t want to be depressed, they want to be inspired.
Kelowna Flying Solo Toastmasters, Club 723 is a member of Toastmasters International.
We meet Tuesday evenings at the Club House @ 124 Verna Court, Glenmore. Click here for directions.
Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. Our membership is 313,000 strong. Members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 14,650 clubs in 126 countries that make up our global network of meeting locations.
Toastmasters International’s core values are integrity, dedication to excellence, service to the member, and respect for the individual. These are values worthy of a great organization, and we believe we should incorporate them as anchor points in every decision we make.
For more info: Rae Stonehouse
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