CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – OCTOBER 11, 2021(PT.1)
Biggest Myths about Public Speaking Fear and Stage Fright
t’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 “gaagaa, goo goo”. Now, 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.
Motivational speaker Brian Tracy, wrote an article about what he learned from his speaking career. One of the major things that he learned as a professional speaker is that you have to train to be a speaker. His advice is to go out and give “300 presentations as hard and as fast as you can”. I know what your thinking… 300? Man, that is a lot of speeches. Exactly! If you want to be a good presenter, you really have to practice. In fact, that is one of the main reasons that our presentation skills classes are so popular. Because our class sizes are so small, each participant gets to deliver at least eight presentations in just two days. This fast pace helps the presenter establish good habits and experience a series of successful speeches in a short period of time. Make it a champion day!
