Real Impact » General articles

Fear of Speaking: How to Overcome It

Jean Palmer Heck — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 02:26:17 +0000

If you are one of the dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions of people who dread public speaking, you know that knot-in-your-stomach, sweat-soaked feeling is nothing you can wish away. The more you speak in public, the easier it gets. To speed up your learning curve and overcome your fear of speaking, there are specific techniques you can use. Here is a video highlighting public speaking tips that can be used in your next presentation.

Good Presentation Impressions

Jean Palmer Heck — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 03:35:10 +0000

I’m always on the lookout for good presentation styles. It doesn’t have to be public speaking in front of a large audience. It could be a customer service representative, a sales person, someone or some organization I come into contact with in every day occurrences. I note what impresses me. The good, the bad and the ugly of communication styles.

Recently, I was in Connecticut and had a few extra hours and decided to explore. I came across The Hudson River Museum in Yonkers, New York. It was wonderful. Great exhibits, no crowds, unbelievably cheap admission fees. For 2-3 hours, I was captivated. All for $5.

I thought about how this experience relates to giving speeches. Here’s what I observed that you can put into practice for your next presentation:

Surprise your audience by being great. I didn’t expect this out of the way place to be so over-the-top interesting. Your audience may expect a standard presentation from you. (That’s the way most business presentations are viewed.) Make sure your presentation is over-the-top interesting/valuable/insightful.
Put your creativity to work when you develop your speech or PowerPoint. One of the most creative exhibits was Red Grooms: The Bookstore. http://www.hrm.org/collections/installations.html
Make your audience glad they are there. I was thrilled at the “find.”
Give the people who hear your presentation something they can remember and talk about after you are done. I’ve been telling lots of people about the Hudson River Museum since I returned and recommending it to people who live in the region.
Remember that you are the expert on the topic you are speaking about…but your audience isn’t. This museum had a small, but impressive collection of the artists from the Hudson River School genre. The descriptions along side the paintings were helpful to those who don’t remember (or never learned) art history. Short and to the point.

When you give a speech, make sure you put enough of the basic information in for those in your audience who are not as learned about your topic. They don’t want to feel stupid…and may not bother to ask questions to further understand what you are trying to convey. Make basic explanations short, and to the point, allowing you to spend time getting into the meat of your topic.

Give your audience their money’s worth. Their time is valuable. Honor that by making your presentation rewarding for everyone who spends time listening to you speak.

Real-IMPACT Presentation Hints

Jean Palmer Heck — Sat, 12 Nov 2011 19:17:28 +0000

Why Media Training Takes Time

Jean Palmer Heck — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:32:20 +0000

Is there a possibility that someone in the news media might interview you in the future? If so, here’s a look at what you can expect from media training. This is a repost of an article from one of my international colleagues, Alan Stevens, whose company is called “The Media Coach.” He outlines his process for getting someone ready for an interview.

FIVE MINUTES ON AIR, FIVE HOURS PREP

There tend to be two different ways that people look at media interviews, Some people feel that since they know their topic inside out, they barely need to prepare, since they will able to deal with any question. Other people are so terrified of being interrogated by a reporter that they spend days analyzing the worst questions, and practicing avoidance tactics.

I advocate a different approach. Your five minutes of airtime is a golden opportunity to deliver a simple, effective, relevant message. When I’m preparing a client for a media encounter, we spend a lot of the time preparing the message, and then practicing ways to deliver it in an answer to any question. That doesn’t mean avoiding the question altogether, but it does mean focusing on your message rather than trying to figure out what the journalist wants to know.

Preparing for a five-minute interview on national radio or TV, I generally split the time up roughly this way:

- - An hour deciding what message to deliver
  - An hour refining the message
  - An hour practicing delivery of the message
  - An hour considering the worst questions
  - An hour doing a series of practice interviews

That may sound a lot of work for a five-minute interview. But the reputation of you company could hinge on it. How much is that worth?

Thanks, Alan. No matter how well seasoned a company representative is in public speaking, news media interviews are a different communications game. Your media training plan is exactly what is needed in order to get positive results.

Learning from The King’s Speech

Jean Palmer Heck — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 18:04:27 +0000

Ever wondered what it’s like to work with a speaking coach? The Oscar winning movie, The King’s Speech, is an excellent example of how a person with serious presentation skill problems can overcome difficulties with the help of a communications expert. Although the king had a stuttering problem, many of the techniques his speech coach used with him are the same as those I use with executives in one-on-one coaching.

Here is an analysis of one speech technique exercise in the movie. You can do it on your own to improve your presentation skills.

Abdominal breathing exercises for speakers …or “Sit on him, Queen Mum.”

Most people breathe shallowly, expanding only the upper regions of their lungs. Long sentences are almost impossible to get through without sounding winded. A good speaking technique is to breathe diaphragmatically. In simple terms, your waistline should expand when you inhale. When you exhale, your waistline should be its smallest.

It’s much easier to illustrate this if the person learning this presentation skill technique lies down on the floor. The “breather” (speaker) can better see the movement of the diaphragm by watching his or her abdomen rise and fall. Inhale and your stomach rises. Exhale and it falls. It’s almost impossible to breathe the wrong way in this position.

In The King’s Speech, the presentations skill coach had the future Queen Mum sit on the monarch’s stomach while the king practiced breathing more deeply. Since I don’t have access to Queen Mums when I work (lol), I use a 3-ring binder. Maybe it’s not as easy to see as her majesty, but it is good enough for us commoners.

This is a public speaking exercise you can try in the privacy of your own home or office conference room. But a word of warning. Don’t fall asleep! It can be too relaxing in this position. In fact, when I can’t get to sleep, I practice this silent speech technique and I’m in dreamland within a few minutes.

You don’t have to be king to be a great speaker. But you should be a great speaker if you are king…or a leader.

Getting your expertise noticed

Jean Palmer Heck — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:00:22 +0000

Here are 5 strategies to use if you want to be noticed for your expertise:

If you have one comment to make, summarize your point in one sentence and then go into detail for 30 seconds. This keeps you on track and shows your colleagues you can be focused and succinct.
If you have several comments to make, start off by saying, “I’d like to address 3 points: point A, point B and point C. In terms of point A, …. “ When you list the points, they should be phrases only. This will set the stage for expressing comments on each of the 3 points at some time in the meeting, even if you only speak about point A before there is open discussion. Later on, you can chime in with, “I’d like to go back to point B. We might want to consider…..”
Inhale deeply and then project your voice by speaking from the diaphragm (abdominal breathing). This is essential for those who are shy, because it gives more power to your words and persona and can eliminate any shakiness in your voice.
Listen to others. All too often, people who are shy about speaking up at meetings spend too much time rehearsing what they will say and miss what others are contributing. When you can tie your comments into something someone else said, it shows you are a team player. Start your entry into the discussion by saying, “I’d like to follow up on what Joe said about ……. “
Beware of your body language. Watch your posture and make eye contact with others in the room.

Speaking up confidently

Jean Palmer Heck — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 17:31:08 +0000

Do you keep quiet at meetings because you lack confidence speaking about the topic? If so, you might want to read this article on CNN’s website. I was quoted in the article about how to speak up with confidence at a meeting. I offered the hint about abdominal breathing. Here’s an excerpt.

3. Belly breathe: Public speaking can be nerve-wracking, but you don’t have to let it show. Abdominal breathing will make you sound confident by giving strength to your voice.

To use this technique: “Inhale deeply and then project your voice by speaking from the diaphragm,” says Jean Palmer Heck, president of Real-Impact, Inc. “This is essential for those who are shy, because it gives more power to your words and persona and can eliminate any shakiness in your voice.”

Here’s the full article with “5 tips for speaking up confidently at meetings.”

PR Tips for small businesses: Get busy speaking

Jean Palmer Heck — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:45:29 +0000

When a small business owner asks me how he or she can get more PR or publicity for their companies, I often suggest getting out on the speaking circuit. Local service clubs are always looking for someone to speak to their group. That doesn’t mean it’s just a free advertisement. It means that if you have an entertaining, educational, relevant material, they’d like to meet you and hear what you have to say.

What Business Speakers Say They Must Practice

Jean Palmer Heck — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:38:19 +0000

When I conduct presentation skills training sessions for businesses and organizations, I always ask the attendees to share with me key points that they will work on after the session. I’m only with them for a short period. My sessions range from half-day training to four-day sessions spread over several months. So when I’m gone, they need to make sure they put into practice what they have learned about standing up in front of a group and making an effective presentation. Here are some of the things that they have told me:
1. Enjoy the process and look the part.
2. Speak more loudly.
3. Make the visuals much larger.
4. Breathe abdominally to relax.
5. Make better eye contact.
6. Use more stories and analogies.
7. Drink lots of water.
8. Don’t be afraid to be creative.
9. Get out from behind the lectern.

I’ll go into more depth on these issues in future blogs.

Tiger Woods Makes a Predictable Mistake

Jean Palmer Heck — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:03:53 +0000

Here’s a great article by Jerry Brown, who is a guru on crisis communication. Take heed:

Tiger Woods Makes a Predictable Mistake

By Jerry Brown, APR
www.pr-impact.com

Some stories feel incomplete the first time you hear them. They leave you feeling like there’s a lot being left unsaid. And, of course, the part that’s being left out is the juicy part – the stuff you really want to hear.

That’s the kind of story that makes reporters dig deeper. And the kind of story the rest of us are likely to follow as it unfolds.

Tiger Woods’ weekend car wreck was one of those stories.

Where was he going at 2:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving night? How did he manage to get going fast enough right out of his driveway to knock himself silly? What about that tabloid rumor he’s been fooling around with another woman? Was he trying to get away because his wife was attacking him?

In his only comment so far, Woods refers to such speculation as “false, unfounded and malicious rumors.” That may be true. And you could argue it’s nobody’s business anyway. After all, there’s no apparent crime and he didn’t hurt anyone but himself.

But Woods is a celebrity. He’s canceled at least three appointments to discuss the wreck with the police. And he’s being extremely secretive about what happened during an incident that should be easy to explain in detail. If Woods’ version is true, the story goes away as soon as he fully explains what happened. Keeping quiet keeps the story alive.

Woods is known as a man who protects his privacy. Maybe that’s what’s going on here. But his secrecy will keep the story alive longer than simply explaining what happened – even if the full story is more embarrassing than what he’s said so far.

One of the things that makes crisis communication so interesting is how often people who should know better make the same mistakes. Clamming up in the face of bad news is one of the classic mistakes people make during a crisis.

What really happened Thursday night? Stay tuned. This story isn’t over yet.

In the meantime, here’s my advice for you: Don’t make the mistake of keeping your bad story alive if you find yourself tempted to hide behind a wall of secrecy when your crisis arrives.

That’s my two cents’ worth. What’s yours?