CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – AUGUST 27, 2021
MYTHS ABOUT BEING A GOOD PUBLIC SPEAKER (PT.4)
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 a month, and there is a good chance that not every one of those speeches are going to be winners. So, if the club is really big, a Toastmaster may not see a lot of growth in public speaking skills right away.
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.
The truth is that the time it will take you to become a great speaker depends entirely on how many times and how often you speak, and how many of these instances are successes. If you do Brian Tracy’s 300 speeches in six months, you will definitely be more confident at the end of that time. If it takes you 20 years, you probably won’t be. Again, though, that is one of the reasons why people come to a Fearless Presentations ® presentation skills class. Since participants can give so many speeches in such a compressed time period, it’s literally like using a trampoline to dunk a basketball.
