Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. 

Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. 


Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech
(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Welcome to 30 Tips in 30 Days! Over the entire month of November, I will be releasing a short, bite sized episode of Fearless Presentations every morning covering things that are absolutely essential to being a better presenter. 

Whether you've been speaking professionally for years and years or are looking to just start your public speaking journey, applying just these 30 tips I cover here will instantly and easily make you improve as a speaker. 

As we learned in the tip yesterday, stories can be one of the most powerful tools in a speakers tool belt. However, it's completely possible to make a story hurt your presentation. 

Even if the story is told well, if it's not at all related or able to be related back to the point of your presentation, it can leave everyone even more confused and uninterested than they would have been without the story. So make sure to go into every story with a clear point and a clear way to connect it back to your general presentation.


Show Notes: 101 Public Speaking Tips For Delivering Your Best Speech
(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips-for-delivering-your-best-speech/)

Last week, I did a quick session on why people feel nervous speaking in front of a group -- even though, they are doing things to reduce that nervousness. This week, I cover what to do if you just absolutely bomb a speech.

If you just delivered a terrible presentation and feel like yo fell on your face, take heart. The tips I give at the end of this episode can help.

But first, we'll talk about how even the most embarrassing and difficult challenges you face public speaking can be something to learn from.

I'm not saying these challenges are necessary. But, if and when they do happen, changing you attitude about the speech and using it as a stepping stone to presentation success can really help.

Show Notes: How to Recover from a Terrible Speech (Bombing on Stage)

(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-recover-from-a-terrible-speech-bombing-on-stage/)

Imposter syndrome is a term used to describe the feeling of inadequacy, self-doubt, and lack of confidence that many people experience in their professional or personal lives. It is the feeling that you are a fraud, that you are not good enough, and that your accomplishments are simply the result of luck or circumstance rather than your own abilities.

The good news is that while imposter syndrome is a common experience, it is not the only one. The opposite of imposter syndrome is a sense of confidence, self-assurance, and belief in oneself. In this blog post, we will explore the opposite of imposter syndrome, how it manifests itself, and how capable people can cultivate it in their lives.

The opposite of imposter syndrome is a sense of self-assurance and self-confidence. It is also a belief in yourself. It is the knowledge that you are capable, competent, and deserving of the success you have achieved. Imposter syndrome is characterized by self-doubt and negative self-talk. The opposite of imposter syndrome is characterized by positive self-talk, self-awareness, and a sense of purpose.

By the way, this doesn’t mean being arrogant or overconfident. It is not about being boastful or self-promoting. Instead, the process is about recognizing your own abilities and accomplishments. You also have to have the confidence to share them with others.

Show Notes: The Opposite of Impostor Syndrome-Journey to Self Confidence (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/the-opposite-of-imposter-syndrome-a-journey-to-self-confidence-and-belief-in-yourself/)

Doug Staneart — President and CEO of The Leader’s Institute ® and Creator of the Fearless Presentations ® Public Speaking Training Programs.

Last week I began a two-part series on the step-by-step process that I went through to overcome public speaking fear. I covered the first four life lessons that helped me get there.

Most of the tips in the last session were things that I learned early in life that helped me have the right focus when I experienced that fear and that first failure in front of a group. This week, I'm going to give the top three things you can do if you have already made the decision to get better as a speaker. (Or get better at just about any skill that you struggle with.)

Show Notes: How I Eliminated My Public Speaking Fear and Stage Fright (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-a-shy-trailer-park-kid-became-a-world-class-speaker-and-how-you-can-too/)

Doug Staneart — President and CEO of The Leader’s Institute ® and Creator of the Fearless Presentations ® Public Speaking Training Programs.

My public speaking class members often ask me questions like, “Do you still get nervous when you speak?” “How did you become a professional speaker?” And the most common, “You were a nervous speaker… How did you overcome your public speaking fear?”

The answer to the first question is, “Sure. When I deliver big presentations or do something new, yes, I still get nervous from time to time. But the nervousness isn’t anywhere close to the public speaking anxiety I had years ago.”

The other two questions, though, have both a short answer and a long answer.

So, I thought that I would back up this week and show you how I overcame my fear of public speaking. You could also call this post how an incredibly shy person beat the odds to become a confident speaker and presenter. My first formal presentation in the business world was such a failure that it cost me my first career.

However, that failure was a turning point in my life. It was horrible when I experienced it. However, it allowed me to help over 100,000 people avoid making the same mistake.

I hope that my story can help you overcome your public speaking fear as well! If a person like me can become a great speaker… ANYONE can become a great speaker. You will have to work. You will also have to embrace your fear when you speak in front of an audience. However, you will also experience great rewards when you do!

Show Notes: How I Eliminated My Fear of Public Speaking (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-a-shy-trailer-park-kid-became-a-world-class-speaker-and-how-you-can-too/)

A few weeks ago, I gave you a few of my favorite ways to start a presentation. Then, for the last few weeks, we have covered several ways to make presentations more interesting. This week, I give you a few of my favorite ways to end your presentation with a bang.

You want to make the last thing that you do or so in your presentation memorable so that the audience leaves the room seeing you as a qualified speaker and more likely to use the information that you gave them.

I cover seven very effective ways to end a speech along with a few "show stoppers." The show stoppers are things that you want to avoid. The last thing that you want to do is design and deliver a great presentation and then end on a downer.

Show Notes: How to End Your Speech (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-end-your-presentation-with-a-bang/)

Feel nervous about speaking in public? Tell a personal story in your speech (early), and you can reduce public speaking fear dramatically. One of the first public speaking secrets that we share in our public speaking training classes is that stories are your friend.

When you tell a story, you reduce presentation jitters and build rapport with your audience. Don’t believe me? Watch any professional motivational speaker on YouTube. You will find that their entire speech is composed of a series of individual stories that they link together. In this post, we will cover some of the major benefits of telling stories as well as the best way to do it.

In this episode, we comer the ins and out of why you should insert stories into your presentations. We also cover how, when you do this, your nervousness will drop dramatically.

Show Notes: Storytelling in Speeches (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/tell-a-story-in-your-speech-and-reduce-public-speaking-fear/)

The 5 Steps of Storytelling During a Presentation. Follow these Tips to Become a Better Storyteller.

In this episode, we cover the Five Steps of Storytelling that we have identified in our presentation skills class. These best practices will help you organize your stories better. Remember that audience members have a short attention span. Good storytelling, though, can help you capture and hold the attention of your audience. In fact, inserting better stories is a simple way to improve your presentations dramatically.

The tips on this episode can help you improve your story structure,. However, the best way to deliver a story in your presentation is to just play the video in your head. Then just tell the audience what you are seeing. Great storytelling is really just sharing your own experience with your audience. So if following these steps is a little out of your comfort zone, start by just inserting a single personal story from your own experience into your next presentation. Then try each of these tips, one at a time, in future presentations.

This final tip isn’t really one of the steps of storytelling, but it is an important part of how to tell a story. It is a good idea to practice different versions of your story. I got this from my friend Ton Antion when I interviewed him about building a personal brand. He suggested having a 30-second version, a one-minute version, and a two-minute version of every story.

By the way, I’m not saying to have three different kinds of stories. I’m suggesting that you get good at telling your stories in different ways, so the timing of your story is the right length, whether you have three minutes to speak, 30 minutes to speak, or three hours to speak. The best storytellers can condense the whole story down in time if they absolutely have to do so.

Although I had been teaching students how to tell a great story for years, I never really taught this. I’d say, “If time is short, just condense your story down.” After Tom mentioned this tip, though, I began to pay attention to the look on my student’s faces when I said this. I’d sometimes see a little confusion. So we actually started practicing this in class. It has been a big help. In fact, we sometimes find that a well-worded 30-second story can be more impactful than a longer one. Try it yourself and see!

Show Notes: How to Tell a Good Story in a Presentation in 5 Simple Steps (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/the-5-steps-of-storytelling-how-to-tell-a-great-story/)

Looking for how to write a speech in a few simple steps? Over the last 20 years, our instructors have dissected thousands of speeches. In that time, we’ve been able to identify simple things that can easily make or break a presentation. We’ve assembled a simple, step-by-step process that explains how to write a speech quickly and easily.

In fact, once you understand the concepts below, you can use our Online Speech Writer to organize and print your presentation. A little warning, though, the process is very simple if you follow every step. If you skip a step, you can get bogged down, and the process can take a lot of time. However, if you follow the steps, you can write an effective speech in just a few minutes (versus hours or days)!

Show Notes: How to Design an Entire Speech in 3 Simple Steps (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-write-a-speech-just-few-simple-steps/)

One of the more challenging parts of any presentation is the very first part. If you are wondering how to introduce yourself before starting your presentation, you are in good company. For most of us, once we get the first few sentences out, our nervousness will diminish pretty significantly. So, this initial self-introduction is really important. If we struggle here, our nervousness will increase. In addition, the old adage, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression,” is very true.

In this post, we are going to cover the best way, a very simple three-step process that will help you introduce yourself in a presentation. A summary of the steps is below.

1. Start with your name and company (or organization or school).
2. Tell your audience what problem you can solve for them.
3. Share some type of proof (social proof works best) that you can solve this problem.

I will break down each step into a simple-to-follow process.

Show Notes: How to Introduce Yourself Before a Speech (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-introduce-yourself-before-starting-any-presentation/)

This is part two of a two-part episode on how to start a presentation.

Looking for a few ways to start a presentation that are dynamic? The opening is really the most important part of your presentation. You want to make a good first impression. In addition, you also want the audience to see you as a subject matter expert.

Last week, we covered three ways to start a presentation to help your audience retain the content of the presentation better. This week, I give you five ways to capture the attention of even the most stoic audience right away!

If you stick around for the last six minutes, I will give you my very best tip for starting a presentation. It is a bonus tip. It doesn't always work, but when it does, it is a show-stopper. So, stick around for it!

Show Notes: How to Start a Presentation (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-start-a-presentation/)

Looking for a few ways to start a presentation that are dynamic? The opening is really the most important part of your presentation. You want to make a good first impression. In addition, you also want the audience to see you as a subject matter expert.

Of course, we’ve all been there as a speaker. First, we design a powerful presentation. Then, we nervously walk out onto a stage or into the front of the room. The audience stares with skepticism written all over their faces. This stoic crowd has no patience for speakers who waste their time. And their demeanor is showing that fact right now. In a timid voice, we start with a simple, “Good morning.” We get no response from the audience — no warm welcome at all. As a result, our nervousness increases dramatically.

The good news is that your speech doesn’t have to start this way. Your first words will create first impressions.

So, in this session, I’m going to give you the best way to start a successful presentation so you can win over the audience members. Below are a few of my favorite ways to start a speech that will help you capture the attention of your audience and get even the most stoic crowd to want more from you.

Show Notes: Best Ways to Start a Presentation (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-start-a-presentation/)

One of the most common things I still hear from people who are talking to me about public speaking is "why do I still get nervous when I'm giving a speech?". 

Now the preamble to the question is always a little different. The person may have already gone to classes or toasting clubs, maybe the person had already been speaking for years and years and years, but for some reason they still suffer with nervousness every single time when they're trying to deliver a speech.

It doesn't matter if they've had the best coaches and the best training, for some reason with all that practice the base level nerves still persist and this can cause them to get frustrated. They might start feeling like nothing they have worked towards has mattered or that they'll just never become a great public speaker cause, to them, great public speakers never get nervous. 

Well on today's episode I'm gonna dive into the reason that basically everyone still has this question, why you still suffer from it, and how to either fix the problem at it's roots, or find comfort in it.

Show Notes: Why Do I Still Get Nervous When I Speak in Public?

(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/why-do-i-still-get-nervous-when-i-speak-in-public/)

In this session, I’m going to cover 10 simple ways to overcome the fear of public speaking. This is a continuation of the 3-step process to eliminate public speaking fear. In that episode, I showed you the process that a nervous speaker should go through to reduce speech anxiety.

As a review, the first step is to find out where the fear of public speaking comes from. Then, do a few simple things to reduce the risk of failure in those instances. (We will cover 10 of these tips in this episode.) Finally, you want to string together a series of successes speaking in front of a group of people. Basically, you want to get lots of practice so you can develop good presentation skills.

This is the process that we use in our public speaking classes. Your local toastmasters' club and your local speech coach might use this process as well. So, presentation tips can help you eliminate presentation fear symptoms. However, to permanently reduce nervousness, you have to follow the process over and over. Every time you use one of these key tips and have success, your confidence will grow.

That is why a good public speaking class or coach can help you move through this process more quickly. If you only give a single presentation once a year or a couple of times a year, you will find it difficult to string together this series of successes. You will become a much better speaker if you speak more often.

Remember, stage fright is a common form of anxiety. And public speaking is a learned skill. No one comes out of the womb as a great public speaker. So a good coach or class can speed up the process exponentially.

Show Notes: 10 Ways to Get Rid of the Fear of Public Speaking (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/10-simple-ways-to-get-over-the-fear-of-public-speaking/)

Happy Thanksgiving. And for those of you outside of the United States, happy third week of November.
I wanted to take a break from the normal public speaking tips and share with you this week one of Abraham Lincoln's least quoted speeches but the one that has a significant impact on US citizens every November, his Thanksgiving proclamation that created the holiday.

Where did the Thanksgiving Holiday come from? Yes, the pilgrim created the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth. And yes, President George Washington made the first Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789. But it was actually Abe Lincoln who created the national holiday. Ole’ Abe reinstituted the holiday that Washington created during his presidency.

This episode covers the words of the Thanksgiving proclamation. I also add a little commentary to show you how you can incorporate some of Lincoln’s techniques into your own speeches as well!

Show Notes: Abraham Lincoln’s Thanksgiving Proclamation
(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/president-abraham-lincolns-thanksgiving-proclamation-oct-3-1863-with-commentary/)

When folks ask me what I do for a living, I answer, “I help people eliminate public speaking fear.” It is always fun to watch the looks on their faces when they process what I said. Inevitably, I will typically get a response like, “You do what?” or “How do you do that?”

The process is really simple. In fact, anyone can reduce public speaking anxiety if they follow this process. Over the last 20 years, our great public speaking class instructors have perfected the best ways to reduce anxiety symptoms. And we have organized the process into three simple steps. The process works every single time!

In this session, we explain this simple process. However, if you looking for public speaking tips, see 10 Ways to Eliminate the Fear of Public Speaking. In that episode, we show you how to lower your heart rate, take deep breaths, and eight other ways to calm speech anxiety. This session is a little different, though. We are not going to give you a bunch of tips about how to reduce stage fright. Instead, we will show you how to become a good public speaker, so the nervousness goes away altogether.

Show Notes: Eliminate Public Speaking Fear in 3 Easy Steps (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/eliminate-public-speaking-fear-in-three-easy-steps)

This week, I'm going to cover how to make that mental shift to where you begin to see yourself as the expert when you present. Just so you know, one of the major sources of nervousness and fear comes from people standing up to speak and fearing that the audience is going to figure out that they are not the real expert or that they are not as much of an expert as their boss or coworkers or other people who do what they do. Once you realize that if you are the person speaking, it is because you have information that the audience needs to know it helps boost confidence immensely.

You Are the Undisputed Expert. So, Now Prove It

Regardless of what industry you are in or what expertise you have, you are the expert. The knowledge that you have is valuable to someone.

When I was 14 years old, my dad owned a home remodeling company. Every winter, I crawled under houses helping him repair frozen pipes that had burst. After a couple of winters, I had so much experience doing this that I could do it in my sleep. So as a teenager, I was an expert at repairing ruptured PVC pipes.

After I graduated from college, my first real job was working for an oil company doing title work for mineral rights. Before long, I had not only gotten pretty good at it, but I had also trained a number of new people.

In my third year in the training industry, I generated a half-million dollars worth of sales for the first time. That same year, I also received a couple of awards for outstanding instruction.

It took me five years as an entrepreneur to attain my first million dollars. However, it only took about eight more months to generate my second million.

With each of these accomplishments, I became an expert at that thing. I had information that the general public didn’t have (even when my expertise was just repairing frozen pipes).

Don’t underestimate your knowledge. Your experience has made you the expert.

One of my friends in college was going to school to be an elementary school teacher, and she absolutely hated math. However, once she graduated, she found out that in the State of Texas, Math and Science teachers got paid an extra fee. This was because teachers with this expertise were in high demand. So, she decided to be a fourth-grade math teacher.

Those of us who knew her pretty well were laughing when we asked her about her career choice. For the three or four years that we had known her, she complained over and over about her math classes. These classes were her nemesis. After a little teasing from us, she replied by saying, “In order to teach fourth-grade math, I just have to be an expert at fifth-grade math.” That day, I learned a prophetic life lesson…

In order to be an expert at something, you just need to have a little more knowledge than your audience.
For instance, let’s say that you are a restaurant manager who turned around a struggling location. How many other managers are there in the world who would want to hear how you did it? You’d be the expert at restaurant turnarounds (especially if you were able to do it a second or third time). Or, if you are a dentist who is really good at getting your patients to show up for every sixth-month check-up, then other dentists would pay dearly to figure out how you do it. Whatever you do on a day-to-day basis makes you the expert at that activity.

Show Notes: You Are the Undisputed Expert (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/you-are-the-undisputed-expert-so-now-prove-it/)

I was shocked at the huge list of dumb exercises to improve presentation skills on the internet. When I say “dumb,” I mean don’t try those tips. They will not work. In fact, they will likely make you even more nervous. So in this episode, I’m going to dispel some of the worst exercises and give you a few really simple things that you can do to become a better public speaker. So get rid of the tongue twisters and vocal warm-ups. Stay tuned for a few way more effective ways to become a good public speaker!

Before I begin, though, there is an important point that you really have to understand. Developing public speaking skills takes time. If you have a presentation tomorrow morning and you are just now looking for exercises to improve public speaking skills, guess what? You are probably too late.

Someone called our 800 number last week looking for help with an upcoming presentation. I asked him, “How long have you known about this fear?”

He replied, “Well, I guess all my life.”

So he knew he needed help a long time ago but waited until just a few weeks before his biggest presentation to try to do something about it. That would be like a teenager just starting to learn to drive a week before taking the driver’s test. You can probably do it. However, the teen would do much better if he or she practices an hour or two every week for an entire year. If you practice the public speaking tips below a little at a time on a regular basis, you will slowly become a great public speaker. If you try to do it in a week, you probably won’t improve a lot.

Show Notes: Exercises to Improve Presentation Skills

Want to calm down before a presentation? Even if you don’t regularly experience the fear of public speaking, just before you start a speech, it is easy to feel anxious. This initial nervous energy can cause a speaker to have a shaky voice, dry mouth, or sweaty palms just before a presentation. The good news is that this experience is very common. Most of the time, if you start your presentation well, the level of nervousness will drop very quickly.

However, sometimes when people feel that stage fright, they panic. When you panic in front of an audience, you will most likely experience even more nervous feelings.

So, what do you do to calm down before the presentation and calm those nerves? Below are 5 Simple Ways to Calm Your Nerves Before and During a Speech.

1. Create a Simple Presentation with Just a Few Key Bullet Points and Practice It with a Person.
2. Find a Quiet Place to Be Alone and Perform a Short Series of Exercises.
3. Interact and Network with Your Audience to Calm Your Nerves Before a Presentation.
4. Just Before Your Start Your Presentation, Take a Steady and Deep Breath.
5. Start Your Presentation with a Personal Story to Calm Your Nerves Almost Instantly.

This episode covers each of these tips in more detail. For full show notes, visit How to Calm Down Before a Presentation

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-calm-down-before-a-presentation-5-simple-ways-to-calm-your-nerves/

Are you a nervous public speaker? A majority of the population has some type of fear of public speaking. Ironically, a great deal of this nervousness or anxiety comes from well-meaning friends or coworkers who are just trying to help.

When we see a friend struggling, we naturally want to help. So, we might offer a little constructive criticism as a way to help a new presenter improve his/her public speaking. However, these “helpful” pieces of advice can actually have an extremely negative effect.

This session shows how constructive criticism can actually cause public speaking fear. We’ll also cover a few ways to reduce this nervousness when we coach or mentor a nervous speaker.

Public Speaking Fear is Normal.

Public speaking is not unlike any other new skill we try to develop. When we try to speak in front of a group for the first time, every one of us will be nervous. The first time you rode a bicycle, you probably felt a little anxiety. You probably were also a little timid when you operated a computer for the first time. Remember the first time you drove a car on the freeway? You probably felt very nervous.

Each of these experiences has a risk of danger. So, the first time that we try them, we experience fear. Speaking in front of a group is no different. The first time that we do it, there is a risk of failure or embarrassment. The good news, though, is that with experience and a series of successes, your nervousness in each of these areas went down. Your fear of public speaking will also decrease if you follow the guide below.

Show Notes: How to Scare the Gooey Out of a Nervous Public Speaker (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-scare-the-gooey-out-of-a-new-public-speaker/)

This week, I'm going to show you how you can make your audiences pay attention to your entire speech. If you use this strategy, you'll get the audience on your side right away and avoid situations where the audience tries to test you or put you on the spot. The strategy will also save you a TON of time and make delivering your presentation much easier as well.

Make Your Presentation Audience Focused

Face it, most people hate meetings. They don’t want to sit through boring presentations, either. The best way to get your audience to listen and care about what you’re saying is to focus on them. You have to make your presentation “Audience Focused.” Focus on what the audience wants to hear, not what you want to tell them.

Designing your presentations with the audience in mind engages them and draws a more concentrated focus on your presentation as a whole. Using an audience-focused approach is like proactive market research. Thinking from your diverse audience’s point of view to drive your design.

I call this strategy the “Breadcrumb Approach.” Basically, we are throwing out a breadcrumb one at a time to try to get the audience to move toward us. Most presenters use a “Push” strategy. They push their ideas and content onto the audicne (whether the audience wants it or not.)

Show Notes: Make Your Presentations Really Audience Focused – Get People to Want to Listen to Your Presentation (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/podcast-make-presentation-audience-focused/)

This week, I'm going to show you how you can begin to develop your public speaking skills in low-risk public speaking venues. These are the tips I give to people after they come through my presentation classes if they want more practice.

As I give you these venues, though, I have organized them in a step-by-step process. For instance, last week, I gave you a list of online venues that I ordered from least risky to most challenging.

If you go through the earlier virtual venues first, you'll be able to build your skill and confidence without having severe negative consequences.

This week,  we'll cover venues where actual people are meeting in person and how you can be asked to speak in these venues to get practice and gain skill in public speaking.

Like last week, I start with the least risky and end with the most challenging. So, save the last ideas until you have built up your confidence.

Show Notes: How to Find Great Public Speaking Venues to Practice Your Presentations. https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/podcast-15-how-find-great-venues-practice-your-presentations/

I often get a common question after people attend our 2-day presentation class. “Now that I feel more confident, where do I go to practice to continue to get better as a speaker?” “How can I continue to grow as a great speaker?”

The best way to continue to grow is with continued and consistent use of your presentation skills. If you take a public speaking class and then don’t present again for a year, your new skills wither away.

In fact, one of the reasons why people come to a public speaking class is to get practice very quickly. A class lets them develop these presentation skills in a controlled environment. In a small group setting like this, presenters get instant feedback and direction from a public speaking expert.

With all the positives, though, it would be impractical to go to a presentation class two or three times a year. So, where do you go to get additional practice? In this session, I share a few ways to find speaking venues that are always looking for good speakers. We’ll also cover how to build a solid reputation as a good speaker, so your reputation grows. (That way, you have meeting organizers reaching out to you to be a speaker at their meeting as well!)

*** Before a get started, though, here is a quick word of caution. Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent. So, make sure that you develop a good presentation first. Then, also work on your poise and confidence when you present. Do these two things before you start to practice. If you practice a poor presentation, you’ll get really good at delivering a terrible presentation. Also, if you practice bad habits over and over, you will have more difficulty later correcting these habits. ***

Show Notes: Find Great Venues to Practice Your Presentations (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/podcast-15-how-find-great-venues-practice-your-presentations/)

I'm gonna do something a little bit different in this weeks episode. This week, we're covering the top 5 biggest public speaking myths, and I'm also debunking each and every single one. 

Just so you can get an idea of the myths I'll be debunking, this is a look at what they will be. 

1. Good speakers are naturally good. 
2. You are way more nervous than every other speaker out there. 
3. Constructive criticism is the best way to improve at public speaking.
4. Video feedback is really valuable for learning. 
5. It takes years and years to become a great public speaker. 

If you have ever been told any of these myths or find yourself believing they make sense, than stick around, and find out just how wrong these seemingly sensible ideas can be.

Show Notes: 5 of the Most Common Myths about Public Speaking Debunked

(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/top-5-myths-about-public-speaking-fear/)

Congratulations! You’ve been invited to give a TED talk. This non-profit talk series is the gold standard of speeches, so you should be honored to be on the event’s roster. Not to mention how great it will look on your resume and website. You’ve undoubtedly been chosen because you’re an expert in your field, be it medicine, literature, pop culture, gerontology, or careers, but it’s not the topic that will have your audience hanging onto your every word. No, it’s more than that. Attendees will be there to learn, but they will remember you for your stage presence and personality. Think about your favorite TED talk speakers. They may speak on a variety of subjects, but they all have something in common. Each speaker has an amazing stage presence.

The most powerful talks all use similar tactics to engage their audience and present well. Today, we discuss five strategies for creating Ted talks to help you create that stage presence and make your Ted talk go viral!

Show Notes: 5 Strategies for Creating TED Talks (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/make-your-ted-talk-go-viral/)

It is a great honor for me to have Grant Baldwin of The Speaker Lab on the show today. Grant helps people break into the professional speaking industry and shows them how to find clients and get paid when they speak.

Grant founded The Speaker Lab years ago and is also the host of The Speaker Lab podcast. His specialty is helping presenters create speeches that help their audiences solve problems. In the interview, he actually throws me for a loop a little. Since he has a hit podcast, I assumed that hosting a podcast might be a good way to generate new clients.

His answer, though, will likely surprise you. Grant gives five things that you can do as a speaker that will help you generate revenue more quickly. His goal is to help speakers find customers in a more active way.

The episode is full of great tips whether you want to be a professional speaker or not, though. Grant's incite will help you create better presentations that solve problems for your audience.

For more details about Grant and his team, the Speaker Lab Website is at https://thespeakerlab.com/.

You can also find Grant's book on Amazon at The Successful Speaker: Five Steps for Booking Gigs, Getting Paid, and Building Your Platform. (https://amzn.to/3B6vD2p)

Full Show Notes at How to Find Public Speaking Gigs and Get Paid to Speak (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-find-public-speaking-gigs-and-get-paid-to-speak-with-grant-baldwin/)

This special holiday episode is a continuation of our holiday series on great speeches in American history. 

What better way to honor and celebrate the holiday than by critiquing one of the greatest, well-known speeches? Before we begin analyzing The Gettsyburg Address, let’s dive into the history and math to put it into context.

David Wills invited Abraham Lincoln to give this speech as a way to honor and memorialize those who had fallen during the Battle of Gettysburg. Why were Americans fighting? Well, if you recall, November of 1863 was the middle of our nation’s biggest divide.
The Civil War took place in reaction to rising tensions between the north and south in large over slavery and state’s rights. The battle of Gettysburg, in particular, increased northerners’ morale and prevented the south from gaining more momentum. Gettysburg is the bloodiest, singular battle of the Civil War.

Lincoln didn’t want to ignore the actions and sacrifices the soldiers made by fighting and spoke to commemorate them in what is titled “The Gettysburg Address.”

“But, wait, you mentioned math…” Yes, I did because part of analyzing anything is making sure the language and wording used makes sense and are understood.

Show Notes: 

In this episode, we will cover a few of the common situations that occur that lead to experiencing public speaking fear. As I cover each one, I will also give you a few simple things that you can do to counteract each of these causes.

So if you ever feel nervous when you stand up and speak in front of a group, these tips can really help.

The Causes of the Fear of Public Speaking and How to Overcome Them

You’re an expert in your field, and you know what you’re talking about. After all, you’ve worked in your field for years. You’ve done your research and received critical acclaim and possibly even some awards. But when you’re asked to speak in front of a crowd, which you often are, you break out into a cold sweat. Why does this happen? After all, nobody knows the topic quite as well as you.

You’re not alone.

The fear of public speaking is actually one of the most common fears in America.

Public speaking anxiety has common symptoms, and fortunately, there are ways to remedy them. You don’t have to live with it or suffer through it. The key lies in understanding the causes of the fear of public speaking and dealing with those individual issues. Possible reasons for anxiety during public speaking situations have fairly common causes and have simple fixes.

Here is your guide to some of the causes of the fear of public speaking and how to overcome those fears.

Show Notes:  The Causes of the Fear of Public Speaking and How to Overcome Them
(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/the-causes-of-the-fear-of-public-speaking-and-how-to-overcome-them/)

In this episode, I share with you my presentation skills checklist that you can use when you are being asked to deliver a speech. It is kind of like a checklist that pilots use in order to lower the risk of failure. You can use it the same way. Make sure you do each of these simple tasks before you speak, and your risk of flubbing a speech shrinks, and your opportunity to perform well in front of the group increases dramatically.

This presentation skills checklist can make designing and delivering a presentation easier and less risky. When folks go through our presentation skills classes, they are often surprised at how simple public speaking really is. That is if you have a great structure and follow a simple checklist.

Before pilots take a plane off the ground, they always follow a written checklist. They don’t follow this process by memory. Instead, they check off each task one by one.

There is a reason why every pilot does this. The process takes a tremendous amount of risk out of the equation. The checklist also takes something very complex and makes it very simple.

Great presenters do the same thing. If you follow a simple presentation checklist, you make delivering the presentation less risky.

Show Notes: The Presentation Skills Checklist (https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/checklist-presentation-skills/)

We just finished a five-part series about How to Start a Public Speaking Career. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to that series, it will help you understand the concepts that we talk about here much more clearly.

5 Ways to Promote Yourself as a Professional Speaker

In this session, we are going to cover how to promote yourself as a professional public speaker. In the earlier sessions, we talked about how to get experience speaking within your current industry. Some of the ideas were to start out as a trainer in your current industry and to speak to associations within your industry. This helps you practice your craft, but, more importantly, it helps you get a video of yourself in front of actual audiences. In the last session, we talked about how to create content like blog posts, videos, and books that you will be able to use to market yourself as a professional speaker.

Last week, I covered steps one through three. This week, I focus on the final two ways to promote yourself as a professional public speaker.

For full show notes, visit 5 Ways to Promote Yourself as a Professional Speaker

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-promote-yourself-as-a-professional-speaker/

We just finished a five-part series about How to Start a Public Speaking Career. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to that series, it will help you understand the concepts that we talk about here much more clearly.

5 Ways to Promote Yourself as a Professional Speaker

In this session, we are going to cover how to promote yourself as a professional public speaker. In the earlier sessions, we talked about how to get experience speaking within your current industry. Some of the ideas were to start out as a trainer in your current industry and to speak to associations within your industry. This helps you practice your craft, but, more importantly, it helps you get a video of yourself in front of actual audiences. In the last session, we talked about how to create content like blog posts, videos, and books that you will be able to use to market yourself as a professional speaker.

For full show notes, visit 5 Ways to Promote Yourself as a Professional Speaker

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-promote-yourself-as-a-professional-speaker/

This is part five of a five-part series about how to start a public speaking career. In the past episodes, we focused on how to use public speaking within your current career, both as an income stream and as marketing.

We also covered a session on how to become a professional speaker for an established speaking company. In this episode, I cover a few step-by-step items that will help you create your own presentation company or speaking career from scratch. If you want to be a professional public speaker, these practical tips can help you get started.

Show Notes: Start Your Own Public Speaking Company from Scratch

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/start-your-own-public-speaking-company-from-scratch/

We are continuing our series on How to Start a Public Speaking Career, and in this session, we will show a shortcut by working for an organization that is already established. While the first episode mentioned a wide variety of approaches, one of the advantages of working with an established company is that the company the speaker is representing has already done the hard work. They have already created the content, vetted the content, and created a customer base. The downside is that the speaker can’t create or promote his/her own content as easily. In addition, if the speaker quits working for the company, he/she will likely have to start from scratch to create their own content and customer base.

In this episode, I’ll cover the pros and cons in more detail. I will also give a step-by-step process that you can go through if you want to become a speaker for one of these companies.

Show Notes: Become a Certified Speaker for an Established Presentation Company

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/become-a-certified-speaker-for-an-established-presentation-company/

One of the easiest ways to become a professional public speaker is by speaking to groups within your current industry. In this article, we will show you several ways to get paid as a professional speaker without having to change careers. This episode continues our previous episode, How to Start a Public Speaking Career. 

Although this is just one of the three routes we will cover in detail, this route is one of the most common (and perhaps the most lucrative). So, we will spend a little more time on this one.

One of the most important steps in beginning is just that, to start. Otherwise, there’s no change. Just starting out gives you practice and room to improve. Improvement might be necessary because while you might have a friendly face, your body language could portray something else. While speaking, you may not connect with your audience enough, and you might need to practice making more eye contact. So start off by speaking at low-stress meetings or community centers. Don’t start out your career by jumping into corporate events- they’re likely to have a large crowd. The best thing to do is to start where you’re comfortable.

In this episode, I show you a few ways to get practice as a professional speaker and generate income by speaking within your current industry.

Show Notes: Become a Professional Public Speaker by Speaking within Your Current Industry

Last week, on the first over glossophobia we went over what the fear actually was. We discussed how phobia may not be the best way to describe it and how a terror is probably more accurate. It's intense, it's dramatic, and it's something does effect your everyday life. 

If you believe after listening to last weeks episode that you are one of the many that may suffer from glossophobia or symptoms that align with glossophobia, this week, we'll work on solving that. 

This week, we will we be discussing and looking at a few excellent ways to actually tackle that public speaking terror you and many others suffer from. While fully eliminating the fear can be and impossible task, there are certainly a few things that have helped millions control their fear, even to the point of being able to give speeches.

So if you're interested in solving that issue and making public speaking a manageable concept, stick around for a few excellent ways to tackle that fear. 

Show Notes: How to Overcome Glossophobia (The Fear of Public Speaking)

(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-overcome-glossophobia-an-irrational-fear-of-public-speaking/)

For the last couple of episodes, I talked about how lucrative a professional speaker career is. Last week, I gave you a few things that have to be in place before you will have a lot of success speaking for a fee.

This week, I'm going to pull back the curtain and show you a step-by-step process of how to start a professional speaking career. By the way, if you don't think of yourself as a professional speaker but you have a following or a way of doing something better, the ideas in this episode will help you develop additional streams of income.

Being a professional speaker is a very lucrative and rewarding profession. But, if you have never actually made money from speaking before, you may be looking into how to start a public speaking career. Just as an FYI, the way that I did it is not the ideal way to become a professional speaker. In fact, when I give advice to new speakers, I tell them to do the opposite of what I did. I’ve now trained over 100 professional speakers over the past 20 years. Many of these presenters are at the top of their industries. Below are a few ideas that may help.

The ideas I share today can help you make public speaking an additional stream of income for you!

Show Notes: How to Start a Public Speaking Career

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-start-a-public-speaking-career/

This is part two of our two-part series on How to Become a Professional Speaker. Last week, I explained a few different types of professional speakers. This week, I give you five attributes that pretty much have to be in place to get people or organizations to pay you to speak.

1. Hone Your Craft Before Dabbling in Professional Speaking -- Basically, get good at something else first. No one is going to pay you to speak if you haven't first been successful at something.
2. Create a Magnetic Personality -- Professional speakers are larger than life.
3. Become an Expert in Your Industry (or Niche.)
4. Don't Rely on Speaking Gigs Alone. Create Multiple Streams of Income.
5. Develop a Tough Skin.

If you don't yet have these things in place, make sure to keep listening. The next few episodes can help you develop these traits.

Show Notes:
So You Want to Be a PAID and Successful Speaker. Here Are Five Things You Will Need to Become a Professional Speaker.

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/want-a-career-as-a-public-speaker-ways-to-build-public-speaking-credentials/
 

It’s easy to develop a career as a public speaker if you’re already a celebrity. If your last name is Trump or Schwarzenegger, you will have no problem getting people to pay you to speak. However, that is not the only way to become a professional speaker. In this post, I will share with you a few tips about how to become a professional speaker.

By the way, if you have a famous last name, it may not matter what you speak about. (People just want to say that they saw you in person.) You will also likely have a speech writer working on something inspirational for you anyway. But what if you don’t have a famous last name to back you up? What if you didn’t win an Olympic gold medal? What if people don’t know you from another face on the street?

Since 99.9% of us are in this situation, how can we increase our fame to become professional speakers? Before we explore these tips, let’s explore the types of professional speakers.

SHOW NOTES: How to Become a Professional Speaker

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/want-a-career-as-a-public-speaker-ways-to-build-public-speaking-credentials/

Sometimes when I'm teaching classes, participants really love how with a few simple modifications, even the most boring or technical presentation can become a fantastic persuasive message. In fact, last week, we covered some of these simple modifications. The big quest that comes up, though, is "What happens if you have to deliver a negative message?"

In the past few months, inflation has skyrocketed, gas prices are so high that the cost of everything is going up, and since the pandemic months are still very close behind in the rearview mirror, many presenters are being put into situations where they have to deliver news about layoffs, or cutbacks, or other negative topics. If you find yourself in situations like this from time to time, then this episode is going to be very helpful.

For full show notes, see How a Presenter Can Deliver Bad News with Poise and Control

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-presenters-can-deliver-bad-news-with-poise/

The persuasion technique in this episode will help you create an amazing persuasive speech outline. In fact, these sales presentation examples can be used in a number of different ways.

“Wait… sales presentation? Oh, I’m not a professional salesperson. This may not work for me.”

Whether you are a salesperson or just trying to persuade coworkers to accept your ideas, this process is important to success. By the way, this technique works both in written format and in a speech. The best way to prepare for them is by treating them the same way. Start by creating a speech outline. Obviously, when you create persuasive speeches, you don’t want them to be scripted. A quick outline will typically work much better.

For the full show notes, visit Creating a Persuasive Speech or Sales Presentation (with a Few Examples)

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/amazing-persuasive-speech-outline-with-sales-presentation-examples/

In this episode, I'm going to explain the pros and cons of public speaking coaching.

Sometimes, when I suggest to people that presentation coaching may not help them, they are a little taken back. "Wait Doug, aren't you a public speaking coach?" Yes, I am, but I very rarely work one-on-one with a single person in a coaching session. In this episode, I'm going to explain why. Also, if you have been listening to the podcast as a way to reduce nervousness, I'll also explain why that may not be the best way to conquer fear.

Do I need to get a presentation skills coach? Well, unfortunately, the answer is probably… It depends. A public speaking coach can be very helpful in certain situations. However, in many cases, a public speaking coach can also be a complete waste of time and money. (The process may actually make you more nervous as well.)

In this post, I’m going to cover the pros and cons of public speaking coaching. I give you a few circumstances where hiring a good public speaking coach can be very helpful. We will also cover the situations where a presentation coach can be detrimental. Next, I’ll give you a few ways to find a high-quality speech coach. Then finally, I will share with you a list of skills where presentation and executive coaching are most helpful.

For Full Show Notes, Visit Presentation Coaching-Do I Ned a Public Speaking Coach?

This is part 2 of a two-part series on Glossophobia (an irrational fear of public speaking.) In this episode, we cover a few simple tips to help you overcome glossophobia.

1) Start Small.

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. If your fear is intense, there is no need to schedule a high-level presentation in front of 1000 people right away. Instead, start by speaking up more in staff meetings, at church, or join a social organization. Set a goal for each interaction. For instance, if you never speak up in staff-meeting, just set a goal to share a single idea with the group. Then, over time, increase the goal. Next week, add two ideas, etc.

2) Look for Opportunities to Present, and then Be Courageous.

You will never conquer any fear if you simply avoid the situations that cause the fear. Instead, look for opportunities to speak where the consequence of failure is pretty low. For instance, you can offer to speak at career day at your child’s school. (If you totally bomb this presentation, so what?) Then, be courageous. I talked in the article 7 Qualities of a Great Speaker about the difference between Self-Confidence and Poise. Self-confidence comes from having a series of successes doing something. Poise, however, is where a speaker is not confident but performs courageously anyway. The more of these courageous successes that you can string together, the more self-confident you will be.

3) Document What You Did Well.

The reason that our presentation skills classes work so well is that our instructors help each student document what they do well in each presentation. For instance, the instructor will teach the student a way to make part of his/her presentation easier, show the student how to do it, and then when the presenter succeeds, the instructor reinforces that success. You can do the same after each of your presentations as well. Immediately after presenting, make a list of some of the things that you did well in the speech. Turn off your internal critic for a while. (All of us are our own worst critic, so you will have to fight this.) Then, before your next presentation, refer to the items on your list. These lists will help you reduce the phobia and build confidence over time.

4) Practice in a Controlled Environment.

If you want a faster way to conquer glossophobia, join us in one of our fear of public speaking workshops. One of the great things about being in a controlled environment like a class or workshop is that the risk of failure is reduced to just about 0%. The only way to conquer glossophobia is to string together a series of successes that outweigh, in our minds, the causes that we talked about above. As each participant masters each part of a fantastic presentation, the fear is reduced exponentially. In fact, in many cases, the growth is so fast and so dramatic that the irrational fear is replaced by confidence. The process isn’t foolproof and it isn’t easy. However, it works almost 100% of the time!

For full show notes, visit A Few Simple Tips to Help You Eliminate Glossophobia
https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-overcome-glossophobia-an-irrational-fear-of-public-speaking/#few-simple-tips-to-overcome-glossophobia

Want to know how to overcome glossophobia? Does stage fright sometimes make you pass up opportunities in your career? Do you feel like you have an irrational fear of public speaking? You are not alone!

Glossophobia or the fear of public speaking is very common. I’ve been in the presentation skill industry for decades, now. In that time, I’ve come to realize that the statistics about this fear are confusing. Some studies say that as few as 7% of the population has glossophobia. Other surveys claim that over 95% of people experience this fear.

However, the statistics depend on the definition of Glossophobia that you are using.

You can see the actual public speaking fear statistics here.

What is the True Definition of Glossophobia? Check out the podcast episode to find out!

For the full show notes, visit What Is Glossophobia?

In today's digital world, there are so many ways to come by great public speaking types and presentation training. Here on Fearless Presentations, we have over 200 podcast episodes, and over 400 YouTube videos on our YouTube channel, and we have also published HUNDREDS of free presentation skill articles on our blog at Fearlesspresentations.com. These resources are all free to the public.

However, some people prefer a more structured approach like an online public speaking training course. If you are a self-starter and want a few public speaking tips, these online courses can be very helpful. (They are also very cost-effective!)

A third option is to get a presentation coach or attend an in-person presentation skill class. Public speaking classes are the absolute best way to eliminate the fear of public speaking. They work better because participants get a chance to practice and develop their presentation skills in front of real people. If you really want to get rid of presentation nervousness, then an in-person public speaking class is your best resource!

Professional speakers can spend years mastering their presentation style. If you have years as well, then any of these options will work. However, if your next high-stakes presentation is coming up quickly, then your options are more limited. You will get the best results if you follow a reliable model for developing good public speaking skills. The Fearless Presentations ® system is the best process ever developed. We can help you become an effective communicator!

For full show notes see Public Speaking Training. 

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/public-speaking-training/

This is part 4 of a four-part series covering the 101 best public speaking tips. We are going to the last 25 today. In this episode, I will continue with a list of some of the best places to practice your public speaking skills. (As we progress further down the list, the locations will become more lucrative for you when you speak to these audiences.)

Then, I will cover a few best practices for group presentations (especially group sales presentations.) The last major section of presentation tips will be about question and answer sessions (Q&A).

Finally, just for fun, I end with the 7 Deadly Sins of Presenters.

For full show notes and lots of additional details about many of the tips, visit 

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips/

Last week, I discussed the fastest and easiest way to solve public speaking fear (utilizing stories and examples), and I mentioned on that episode that most people have some type of nervousness when they stand up to present in front of others. But what do you do if your fear is more intense than just little jitters. 

Well, on this episode I'm going to tell you all about glossophobia, the extreme fear of public speaking. I'll tell you a lot of the misconceptions people seem to have with this "phobia", how many people really have it, what the symptoms are, and how you can know if you truly have it or not. 

Public speaking is a vital part of most working people's day to day life and knowing the difference between typical public speaking nervousness and actual glossophobia can make treating your fear correctly way easier and save you wasted time. 

So stick around as I go over Glossophobia, the fear of public speaking, and keep an eye out for the next episode later this week where I tell you all about how to treat it.

Show Notes: How to Overcome Glossophobia (The Fear of Public Speaking)

(https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-overcome-glossophobia-an-irrational-fear-of-public-speaking/)

This is part 3 of a four-part series covering the 101 best public speaking tips. We are going to zoom through another 25 or so tips today.

In this episode, I'm going to continue our series on 101 public speaking tips that you can use as a roadmap to improve your presentation skills. I have to go through them at lightning speed. though.

So, if you want more information about any of these tips or you want to see all of them visually, just click the link in the show notes.

Last week, I finished with tip #50 which was to add in at least one impact idea to add more content to the presentation outline we talked about earlier. The tips this week begin with three more ways to better organize your speech along with my best PowerPoint tips.

To see all the show notes and for additional information and reading about any of the tips, visit 101 of the Best Public Speaking Tips

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips/

In honor of our 201st episode last week, I started a four-part series covering the 101 best public speaking tips. So if you missed last week, make sure to catch up before listening to this episode. We will zoom through another 25 or so tips today.

These are public speaking tips 25-50. I cover a few ways to use stories to reduce public speaking fear. Then, I cover 20 or so of the best ways to add impact to a great presentation including audience participation tips and ways to add showmanship.

For the full show notes, visit The 101 Best Public Speaking Tips

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips/

This is the 201st episode, so for fun a couple of years ago on my 101st episode, I started a series of 101 public speaking tips. So, in the 201st episode, I'm going to deliver those 101 tips a second time. (My humor knows no bounds.)

So for those of you who listen to the podcast and say, just give me the tips without all the fluff, these are the episodes for you!

This episode covers public speaking tips #1 - #24 and is part 1 of a 4 part series. To see all the tips along with additional details for each, visit the full show notes at 101 Public Speaking Tips

https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/101-public-speaking-tips/