Your public Speaking ability affects so many areas of your life. It impacts how well people understand and commit to your ideas, it allows you to persuade, encourage and motivate people, it helps you to build relationships, both in your career and personal life. But also can be one of the most terrifying things you might do in your life.

Do you feel this way? If so, you’re not alone. But don’t worry. Here are just a few things to help:

Identify Your Own Strengths

Everyone has a different speaking style and we all have our own strengths. Being a great public speaker isn’t about finding out what you’re doing wrong and then trying to fix them. It’s about finding your strengths, and building on them to enhance your own unique speaking style. So take out a pen – write down what you’re good at, and try to enhance those qualities in your next presentation!

Make Everything a Narrative

One of the things that I want to encourage you to experiment with over the next couple of days is that when you are speaking to others is that you speak in the first person. In other words, I'm going to encourage you to say I rather than you. We often use "you" to generalize.

Part of this is because I want to help you to become your own coach. I want to help you to be empowered to own what you are able to do and to own what you would like to develop, in other words, to own your strengths and own the gaps that you're working on. I've discovered over the years that my clients often distance themselves by saying "you". The interesting thing about that is I believe that, speaking from my own experience, saying "I" when it is my experience helps to establish rapport. For example, if Allison were to say, "Well, you know, every time you talk to people, you're going to be nervous." Or, "If you have to read from notes, you're not going to sound as good as you would." What Allison is meaning there is that's her experience, and we think, "Yeah, she's generalizing."

But two things happen when she switches to "I". "I find that whenever I speak from notes, this happens." Now it's a story. It's a narrative, and we're able to compare our experiences with Allison. She's not innocently trying to tell us what our truth should be.

Does that make sense? I believe that when I state a problem, when I articulate a problem out loud and declare it, I believe that my subconscious begins to move me towards a solution to that problem. The more that we speak about our experiences in the first person, the more clearly we define ourselves, the more specifically we define ourselves, which is essential if I'm going to take control of my own learning and my own development.

It's very interesting to study language. Clearly, we are the gods on this planet because we speak. No other species has been able to do that. The Neanderthals could communicate, but they did not have imagination. Homo sapiens are the only species to be able to talk about things that don't exist.

It’s Not About How InterestingING You Are, It’s How InterestED You Are

Imagine you’re talking to your best friend, but you’re scanning around the room, looking over their head. You would never talk to someone like that! But on a stage, that’s what many of us do!

Public speaking is all about eye contact and controlling the room. It’s about engaging your audience, reading them from moment to moment and adapting your presentation to fit their needs. Be interested in them, and they’ll be interested in you.

People Decide Who We Are Based on How We Speak

Did you know your tone of Voice makes up 38% of how well someone will understand you? That’s a huge percentage! People decide who we are based on how we speak. But we all have a different tone of voice. Our perception of someone with a very nasal voice will be completely different than our perception of a person with a very deep, throaty voice. Identifying your natural speaking voice and removing any unconscious habits that may distract people from your message will instantly improve your public speaking abilities.

Did you enjoy these tips?

We’ve got even more in our tips, techniques, and proven methods for effective public speaking in our Commanding Presence Online program http://courses.commandingpresence.com

Sign-up now for a free trial.

Commanding Presence Online is specially designed to help lawyers, accountants and executives who want to increase their effectiveness and personal performance when speaking in all situations, including one-on-one, meetings, and large audience presentations.

The program covers both the preparation of information to be heard and how to guarantee your successful performance and delivery of your messages.

The units are segmented into short videos that average 10 minutes in length. The format is great for those who are busy and need to stop and start, but also allows for a user to complete the whole program in 7-8 hours if they wish.

John Plank was one of the world’s finest communications coaches. His perfectionism and continuous dedication to his art for the last 25 years led him to become a master of his craft. John will be your coach throughout this comprehensive and in-depth online course.

The registration fee is $249 + HST and includes all the materials, resource downloads and lifetime access.

At the end of this program, participants will be able to...

Master Eloquent Speaking

• Think on their feet and respond persuasively and eloquently in one-on-one situations, meetings, and large audience situations

• Effectively use the Focus Method to communicate complex ideas and thoughts

• Create a speech draft in 45 minutes that is persuasive and designed to be remembered

• Manage their fear of speaking

Become a Charismatic Communicator

• Master charismatic communication skills, such as how to "be in the moment"

• Make sincere eye contact

• Speak effectively from notes

• Become a compelling speaker

How to Control the Room

• Utilize effective platform and meetings skills

• Learn powerful gestures and movement while communicating

• Understand how to best use technical equipment while presenting

Rediscover the Power of their Natural Voice

• Assess and evaluate their voice quality

• Perform a wide range of exercises and simple practices to improve the warmth, resonance, and richness of their voice

• Utilize exercises to improve their voice on a daily basis

• Improve their diction with simple techniques

• Manage their speaking anxiety with relaxation techniques

If you would like to bring Commanding Presence Online to your organization, please contact me directly.

Finally, we invite you to follow our Twitter where we post articles on improving your speaking skills as well as coupons for our programs. Twitter: @joyofspeaking http://www.twitter.com/joyofspeaking

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Commanding Presence is an internationally acclaimed public speaking, presentations, and meeting skills workshop designed for professionals, such as lawyers, accountants and executives.

The prestigious Commanding Presence workshop is now available online visit for more details.

Participants of Commanding Presence Online will learn how to:

Master Eloquent SpeakingBecome a Charismatic CommunicatorControl the RoomRediscover the Power of their Natural VoiceEliminate their Speaking Anxiety