FACE THE POEPLE

WHAT IS PUBLIC SPEAKING?

Public speaking is the process of speaking to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain the listeners.

In public speaking, as in any form of communication, there are five basic elements, often expressed as "who is saying what to whom using what medium with what effects?" The purpose of public speaking can range from simply transmitting information, to motivating people to act, to simply telling a story. Good orators should be able to change the emotions of their listeners, not just inform them. Public speaking can also be considered a discourse community.

Interpersonal communication and public speaking have several components that embrace such things as motivational speaking, leadership/personal development, business, customer service, large group communication, and mass communication. Public speaking can be a powerful tool to use for purposes such as motivation, influence, persuasion, informing, translation, or simply entertaining.

TALK WITHOUT STRESS

To deal with any type of stress effectively, you first must understand that life itself, including public speaking, is NOT inherently stressful. Thousands of human beings have learned to speak in front of groups with little or no stress at all. Many of these people were initially terrified to speak in public. Their knees would shake, their voices would tremble, their thoughts would become jumbled . . . you know the rest. Yet they learned to eliminate their fear of public speaking completely.


Hidden Causes Of Public Speaking Stress

  1. Thinking that public speaking is inherently stressful (it's not).
  2. Thinking you need to be brilliant or perfect to succeed (you don't).
  3. Trying to impart too much information or cover too many points in a short presentation.
  4. Having the wrong purpose in mind (to get rather than to give/contribute).
  5. Trying to please everyone (this is unrealistic).
  6. Trying to emulate other speakers (very difficult) rather than simply being yourself (very easy).
  7. Failing to be personally revealing and humble.