CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – OCTOBER 14, 2021(PT.4)
Biggest Myths about Public Speaking Fear and Stage Fright
Being a Critic Versus Being a Coach
My wife likes to watch cooking shows. Personally, I’m not a big fan, but I often experience in passing as I’m doing something else around the house. One of the things that I’ve noticed is that, on these shows, there will often be three judges. If the dish that they are judging is good, two of the judges will give a compliment to the chef. However, no matter how good two of the judges think that the dish is, at least one of the judges will criticize the dish. (I guess that makes for great TV.) My point is that no matter how well something is done, if you ask someone to be a critic, he or she will find something wrong. The old adage is, “Nobody’s perfect.” Since we know this, we can always find something to criticize. And every time that we do, we will be harming the confidence of that person.
I’d much rather see Gordon Ramsey watching the participant as he/she cooks. When he sees the person about to make a mistake, go over and offer a piece of advice that will keep the person from failing in the first place. That little bit of proactive coaching will be see by others (and the people in the audience) in a way to where if they are faced with a similar situation, the people watching and listening will now know how to handle it. That is the difference between being a coach and being a critic. Coaches help people succeed, while critics wait for the person to fail so that they can critique the person.
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.
