Public Speaking Not So Basic Basics -Expert Advice

Welcome to Public Speaking Not So Basic Basics. Hello, I'm Patricia Fripp and for decades I've enjoyed a successful career as a keynote speaker and speech coach for executives, sales teams, and other professional speakers. My social media posts, articles, books, and online learning platform FrippVT are designed to help ambitious professionals like you to gain a competitive edge. In this video, you will learn the not-so-basic basics. You can also take advantage of my e-book, Rockstar Communications. The link is in the notes. It never ceases to amaze me that intelligent, well-educated, and ambitious professionals frequently overlook developing the number one skill guaranteed to position them ahead of the crowd, namely developing the ability to stand up and speak eloquently in public, or at least stagger to their feet and say anything at all. What is it about public speaking that terrifies so many? Most likely, it's because we do not want to look, feel, or sound stupid in front of others. As a speech coach, when I first meet my clients, I often hear, I'm a terrible public speaker, to which I reply, no, you're an untrained speaker. My second comment is stop telling yourself what you do not want. This is reinforcing what we are going to change. Don't be so tough on yourself. You've invested your entire career training to perfect your skills. How do you expect to be good at what you're not focused on? Great news. To become a powerful, professional-sounding presenter is not rocket science. However, it's a tad more complex than you may realize. Don't worry. That is why I'm here as your own personal speech coach. Perhaps you have some natural talent and you're comfortable getting up in front of an audience. Even then, you will be well-served to learn timeless techniques and proven principles that are little known or frequently overlooked. These techniques are principles viewed through my over 30 years experience and after delivering over 3,500 live presentations and hundreds of lectures. My goal is not to impress you, rather impress upon you. These skills took me from behind a men's hairstyling chair to stages on five continents. Now, I have the privilege of coaching executives, engineers, sales teams, and ambitious professionals in all industries to improve their important presentations and conversations. Perhaps you're thinking, I'm not a professional public speaker. Well, you are. All speaking is public speaking. Let us be realistic. In the business world that we live in, much of our team, customer, and sales meetings are conducted virtually from our home. For our purposes, public speaking is defined as any important conversation or communications you deliver for business. These may include virtual, live, or pre-recorded messages. Public speaking for business includes speaking at team meetings, reporting to senior management, conversations or presentations to drive more business, perhaps speaking at industry events or user meetings. Public speaking is also welcoming new recruits to your company and answering the frequently asked question, what do you do for a living? Anyone can stand in front of an audience or behind a webcam and deliver a good presentation. Everything we do and say adds to or distracts from our message. Each presentation we deliver increases or lowers our reputation and credibility. When we develop the ability to speak in a clear and concise way, our messages will be remembered and repeated. In other words, when we deliver our message well, we are speaking to the audience of our audience as our ideas and suggestions are repeated. Great presenters have a competitive advantage at every stage of their careers. Consider the benefits of mastering public speaking and sounding like the powerful presenter you are capable of becoming. There are three parts of every presentation. First, your content, what it is you are going to say. Second, you have to make your message easy for you and your audience to remember. For that, you need a simple, logical structure as the framework of your words. This is what I call the skeleton under the flesh of your words. Third is your delivering, which includes your eye contact, the quality of your voice, pauses, inflection, and how you move and gesture, all while remembering what you intended to say. I frequently hear, Patricia, I have my presentation together, I just need you to help me to improve my delivery. To which I reply, why would you want to perfect a poorly structured and badly structured speech? In other words, you cannot focus on your delivery until you have a well-organized flow to your message. Presentation is not a conversation. However, your goal is to make your presentation sound conversation. The written word is for the eye. The spoken word is for the rhythm. My advice is to speak in shorter sentences and phrases. One idea or sentence. This is easier for you and as you pause to think what comes next, your pauses are also important when you breathe and you give your audience time to think about what they've heard. You may be wondering, Patricia, when do I develop the PowerPoint and visual aids? You will save time and have more impact if you outline your presentation on a flip chart, whiteboard, or even yellow pad. Then ask yourself, where do I need visuals? Building your deck first can sabotage what could be a wonderful presentation. If you're given a deck, outline your message and then review the deck and change the order or remove slides that do not serve your presentation or audience. Slides are not the presentation. They are visual and aids, not a scripting tool. The purpose of visual aids is to enhance and clarify your message, not compete with you. You can look forward to learning how to find content, connect to every audience, simplify the speech structure process, open with impact, tell compelling stories, and deliver like a true professional. Remember, when you're a good public speaker, you get noticed, promoted, and have more options. Go get my e-book, Rockstar Communications, and I'll see you in the next video.