Feel the Fear . . . And Speak Up!

By Sandra Schrift

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TITLE: Feel the Fear . . . And Speak Up!
AUTHOR: Sandra Schrift
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Feel the Fear . . . And Speak Up!

Fear of public speaking is No. 1. Death is No. 4. So most
people would rather get a root canal and pay their taxes
than speak in front of an audience!

Ask yourself,

“Wouldn’t it be great to be able to stand in front of an
audience of hundreds of people and hold them in complete
captivation?”

“Wouldn’t it be great to feel confident and assured the
day you’re scheduled to speak before your company’s
executives, an association, or a local civic group?”

“Wouldn’t it be great to go into a presentation confident
that the attendees are going to love you, be surrounded by
their applause, and overhear comments afterwards, such as,
“He was excellent,” or, “She made a real connection with
her audience”?

Here are some tips to build your confidence in front of
others. I have never met an audience that did not want
the speaker to succeed.

1. Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Preparation helps reduce
your jitters. Please do not read your speech. Instead,
use some notes on 3x5 index cards. Be confident that you
know your material. Because you do!

2. Memorize only the opening and closing of your speech.
If you try to memorize your entire speech you will be too
focused on yourself and fearful that you may forget
something. Just continue the conversation, make your
points and use illustrations/stories to highlight your
information.

3. Remember to breathe from your stomach before you
begin . . . and keep breathing.

Deep breaths will keep your vocal chords relaxed and keep
you from trembling. Then no one will know you are nervous.

4.. Deliver your speech as you would engage in a
conversation with someone. Make eye contact with different
members of the audience. When you land on one person’s eyes,
everyone in the audience will feel as if you are speaking to
them also. This is called CONNECTION.

5.. Present your content with lots of examples and personal
stories, mixed with humor and some

interactive exercises for your audience. Get them involved.
This will heighten their interest and retention of your
message. Relax and have some fun. Your audience will too!

6. Here is an old adage to follow: Tell ‘em. what you’re
gonna tell ‘em.(Opening) Tell ‘em. (Body of speech) Tell ‘em
what you told them. (Closing)

7. Stop on time, no matter what. Don’t deliver everything
you know on your topic – just highlight 3 to 5 points in your
speech. Save time at the end for audience questions. And
hang around after your speech to answer some individual
questions.

Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Get
more clients and consistent monthly income? Judy Cullins,
book coach, and Sandra Schrift, speaker coach, invite you
to join a "Business Marketing Achievers" small group
coaching beginning May 25th. We are looking for 12
committed people who are ready to use speaking and writing
to catapult their business. For more details, contact
Sandra at 1-800-340-3683 between 9-6pm pst. Hurry! This
group will fill quickly. For details and to
register go to: http://www.schrift.com/group_coaching.htm

COPYRIGHT: ©2005 by Sandra Schrift. All rights reserved.

About the author:
Sandra Schrift 13 year speaker bureau owner and now career
coach to emerging and veteran public speakers who want to
"grow" a profitable speaking business. I also work with
business professionals and organizations who want to
master their presentations.
To find out HOW TO MAKE IT AS A PROFESSIONAL SPEAKER, go to
http://www.schrift.com/success_resources.htm
Join my free bi-weekly Monday Morning Mindfulness ezine
http://www.schrift.com/monday.htm


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