Art of Public Speaking

 Art of Public Speaking

     Many people have a fear of speaking in public. This fear can be easy overcome if you look at public speaking as an art that can be learned with just a little practice. You have to prepare yourself before hand.  You have to be very aware during your presentation. And, you have to do some follow up. In almost every profession you will find the need to speak in public. As you begin to experience speaking in front of an audience it will get easier and easier.

    There are several steps to preparing yourself before hand. First, You have to know the audience that you will be speaking to. Prepare your material for their level of understanding. Also, it’s good to have a little humor in your talk. But, make sure your humor is appropriate to the audience.

    Next, you have to know you material like the back of your hand. When I was still teaching, I had to give a presentation on teaching higher levels of consciousness to fellow teachers at a faculty workshop. To get ready, I went over much of the material that I had read on higher consciousness. I then wrote out a ten-page synopsis of the material that I wanted to present. I set the writing aside for a couple of days, and then read it over and did some editing. I was certain that I knew the material, but still read over some of the writings that I was studying.

    Of course, I did not write the ten-page synopsis to read it to the audience. Reading a paper to a group is the most deadly thing you can do. I wrote the paper so that the material would be fresh in my mind.

    So as not to leave out any important detail, I went through the material and high lighted the main ideas. I then wrote these ideas on four by five cards. On the cards, I wrote the main ideas in outline form, high lighting major points to they would be easy to find.

   In making a good presentation you need to have visual aides. They catch the eye of the audience and help get your ideas across. For my presentation on higher consciousness, I had copies of all the books that I had read on the subject. Some copies I picked up from the public library. I also had pictures of both Gurdjeiff and Krishnamurti, two to the main teachers that I had read. I uploaded pictures from the Internet and had them blown up at Kinko’s. For my presentation in front of the faculty, there was a white board available. I was able to note some of the main ideas on the board. If you don’t have a white board, you might bring a tabletop easel pad.

   The next step in preparation is to practice your delivery of the material. I do the first couple run troughs in front of the bedroom mirror. Next, I practice in front of my wife, and ask for her critique. For a really important presentation, I have my wife or a friend video tape my delivery. Watching the tape can show up any weakness in your presentation. It will show up the strengths also. I didn’t tape the presentation that I gave to the faculty. However when I presented the same material to a mentor selection committee in order to get a stipend for developing a teacher course in higher consciousness, I taped myself twice.

    Once you are fully prepared the next step is to deliver your presentation to the audience. Again, be aware of the audience that you will address. In presenting to the faculty, I dressed casually. In presenting to the mentor committee I wore a suit and tie.

    In front of your audience, you have to be totally aware. Listen to your voice. Make sure you vary your tone and modulation. Do not speak in a monotone. Do not look down at the floor, stare at you notes, or look over the audience’s head. Look at the people that you are speaking to, catch their eyes, return their smiles. Be aware of frowns and questioning looks. Be aware of your posture, are you standing straight, suck in that gut, but be relaxed. (Of course, you will have practiced all of this in your rehearsals.)

    Ask questions. “ Do you understand what I mean when I say that man is a machine who is totally conditioned and can do nothing on his own?” I asked after I had given that information. “Do you have any questions?” is a good question to ask. “Is their any information that you would like me to repeat?” another good question.

   Point to you visual aids, but don’t pass around books our pictures until after you have finished your presentation as they might distract from what you are saying. Write main ideas on the board or easel paper in bright colors. Sometimes it is good to write an important question on the board.

    You might want to make minimum use of a CD player or slide projector to get across major points. But don’t over do it. Face to face communication is always best. At my middle school a few years ago, teachers came to recruit eighth graders to a new technical school that was a magnet to one of our high schools. They introduced themselves and then made their whole presentation with CD and slide material. Their presentation went over like a lead balloon. And, they were able to enlist only a handful of recruits.

    Once you have finished your presentation, in some instances, it is proper to hand out a questionnaire to find out how your talk was accepted.  After the meeting is over, discuss your presentation with friends and fellow employees. Ask them to critique it for you. Find out how well you got your information across.

   Most people are nervous about speaking in front of an audience, but after a couple of tries it gets easier and easier. The more you prepare yourself the better your talk will be, and the easier it will be to do it the next time.