Giving a demonstration speech is a lot like hosting your own cooking show. Check out this video clip from one of my favorite cooking shows!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/chefs/ina-garten/ina-garten-videos.html?soc=socialsharingtw
Monday, February 22, 2016
Monday, February 8, 2016
Managing Public Speaking Anxiety
Mark Twain once said, "There are
two kinds of speakers: those that are nervous and those that are liars."
In other words, no matter how seasoned or "under-seasoned" you are
when it comes to making presentations, there is going to be some particular audience,
some particular topic, some particularly poor timing or something else in
particular that is going to give you some sleepless nights and a queasy stomach
in the morning.
It doesn’t matter if you’re
presenting to two people or to 2,000 people: When presentation anxiety strikes,
you need some strategies to get you out of your own head and on to the stage
with confidence, polish, and professionalism.
Exercise that morning.
Exercise that morning.
For those people who consider public
speaking a stressful activity, you’re in luck: According to Michael Hopkins, a
graduate student at Dartmouth’s Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Laboratory,
"the positive stress of exercise prepares cells and structures and pathways
within the brain so that they’re more equipped to handle stress in other
forms." Rather than use the morning of your big presentation to ruminate
and freak yourself out, spend at least a half hour working out.
The hardest part for most public speakers is actually getting started. You’re now trying to manage your anticipatory anxiety (planning what could go wrong in the future) with your situational anxiety (experiencing what may going wrong right now). Short-circuit your monkey mind by memorizing the first three lines of your presentation. This will shift your brain out of panic mode and into memory-retrieval mode. And so that you don’t add memory anxiety to your list of concerns, make sure that you have practiced saying your first three lines out loud several times.
Memorize your first three lines. And what about "Hello everyone—thank you for having me. I’m delighted to be here" as an intro? It doesn’t work. In order for you to use your introductory sentences to strategically catapult yourself over your opening jitters, you need to prepare something that brings energy to yourself, to the audience, and to the presentation. Share a short personal story, a brief commentary on a recent, relevant headline, or a potent quotation. (I often begin my presentation skills training with my favorite Mark Twain one!)
Plan a dialogue rather than a monologue. Which would you rather do: make a presentation in front of a group of people or engage in a conversation with a group of people? Unless you struggle with social anxiety in general (a topic for another time), chances are, you would prefer the latter. And guess what? So would your audience. Deliver it flawlessly and remember to breathe. Build in breaks for yourself that also allow your audience to share a role in the presentation.
The hardest part for most public speakers is actually getting started. You’re now trying to manage your anticipatory anxiety (planning what could go wrong in the future) with your situational anxiety (experiencing what may going wrong right now). Short-circuit your monkey mind by memorizing the first three lines of your presentation. This will shift your brain out of panic mode and into memory-retrieval mode. And so that you don’t add memory anxiety to your list of concerns, make sure that you have practiced saying your first three lines out loud several times.
Memorize your first three lines. And what about "Hello everyone—thank you for having me. I’m delighted to be here" as an intro? It doesn’t work. In order for you to use your introductory sentences to strategically catapult yourself over your opening jitters, you need to prepare something that brings energy to yourself, to the audience, and to the presentation. Share a short personal story, a brief commentary on a recent, relevant headline, or a potent quotation. (I often begin my presentation skills training with my favorite Mark Twain one!)
Plan a dialogue rather than a monologue. Which would you rather do: make a presentation in front of a group of people or engage in a conversation with a group of people? Unless you struggle with social anxiety in general (a topic for another time), chances are, you would prefer the latter. And guess what? So would your audience. Deliver it flawlessly and remember to breathe. Build in breaks for yourself that also allow your audience to share a role in the presentation.
Give your audience the opportunity to engage with and better retain the information,
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