Overcome your fear of public speaking today – grab my Ebook now on Kindle for less than 1 $/£ !

Most of the coaching and teaching I do centres around the fear of speaking in public and how people can control that phobia, overcome the fear and become confident speakers.

GLOSSOPHOBIA, as it is known, is a very real yet learned fear carried by so many people.

The good news is that overcoming the fear of speaking in public is a well understood process. The right kind of guidance and coaching can help anyone overcome their speaking phobia. The starting point is the desire and commitment to beat that speaking fear, the next stage is to seek the right kind of help.

Call me today on 07904 262138 to discus how I can help – or perhaps purchase my latest E-Book.

‘FREEDOM TO SPEAK’

Freedom To Speak E-Book

SPECIAL RADIO 4 OFFER E-BOOK REDUCED TO JUST 99p! Marc Lemezma is proud to re-release FREEDOM TO SPEAK to a wider audience. This 20 page E-Book contains a unique set of tools that will help you overcome your fear of presenting and speaking in public. As a bonus Marc has included a link to a recording of a visualisation exercise that will focus your thoughts and help you get rid of your speaking fears!

Price: £5.99

Price: £.99

For many this book will be enough to help them identify and contain their public speaking anxieties – for others this is the first step that will help them feel confident enough to join a speaking class or group.

It’s on offer at a very special price – so grab yours today!

So… for today’s tip I want to share a link to one of my recent podcast episodes on the fear of speaking in public.

Listen here & enjoy!

Overcome your fear of public speaking today – grab my Ebook now on Kindle for less than 1 $/£ !

All speakers need inspiration. It helps us create our talks and presentations just as much as it aids us mid-speech to find answers to questions and new ways to make our point.

But… where does inspiration live?

If you watch some public speakers you could be forgiven for thinking it lives somewhere on the ceiling – usually in a corner. It seems so many speakers gaze upwards to find some inspiration when lost for words.

It is hardly surprising we look there, especially if you follow the teachings of NLP practitioners. They say the majority of us look upwards (left or right) depending if we are recalling information or making it up. So we can conclude that there is a physiological reason why our eye contact can get broken when we gather our thoughts.

The problem with this completely natural behaviour when addressing a group is glaringly obvious. It makes us break our all important eye contact.

The solution is, however, very easy – but it does take a bit of practice as a speaker.

You need to contain your field of vision within the faces of your audience.

Move your focus from person-to-person sharing your eye-contact equally. When you need inspiration, instead of looking upwards to the corner of the room, allow your gaze to move upwards. The trick is to keep focused on the face of somebody whilst allowing your eyes to move upwards as they tend to want to do – containing the extent movement within the limit of that one person.

This does take practice.. yet it does allow you to seek inspiration, yet keep that critically important eye contact!

For personalised coaching to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Please comment if this tip has helped you, or if you’d like to share your own ideas or ask a question – I’ll try to help!

I was talking with my good friend Chris Battye recently – he is a Specialist in performance improvement – see more here.

In a moment of pure inspiration I came up with one of those nuggets of management wisdom. You know the ones that pad-out the thousands of business books.

We were talking about leadership – and how people in the workplace often have to search or even ask for it. I spontaneously said :

Your team should never have to look for leadership

The point being that as a leader you must LEAD. If you ever let your team fall into a situation where they can’t see direction – you are failing in your responsibility.

That set me thinking – that many of the ideas in management apply to us as speakers.

We have to set objectives and create plans to help us achieve them. We need to determine the required resources and get them in line. We must communicate our goals to those who work with us and lead them towards the desired outcome. We should monitor progress and adjust our actions accordingly.

So the advice I share with you today is two-fold.

Firstly that management advice I have already given for those of you who lead teams…

Secondly the same advice applied to your speeches and presentations… In a way reflecting yesterdays tip.

Your audience should never have to look for the meaning!

Word play and verbal rhetoric aside – at the end of your speech or presentation make sure you have made it crystal clear and glaringly obvious what the purpose was and what they do next!

Perhaps some more management speak will follow!

For personalised coaching to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Please comment if this tip has helped you, or if you’d like to share your own ideas or ask a question – I’ll try to help!

How do you end a speech?

I expect every single one of you reading this could come up with a different answer. All of which would be perfectly valid. Here are some examples:-

• You can end with a thank-you or a bow. You can open your arms to ask for applause or nod gently to your audience.
• You can reach the high point of a crescendo in your rhetoric, you could turn dark and lower your voice.
• You can hit the punchline of a humorous situation or even direct the audience to applaud another person to whom you have addressed your speech.
• You could want those watching to do something else too – such as buy something or take some other action.

There are many options open to you – but which should you use?

The answer lies way back in time to when you first decided (or were asked) to give this speech. Why are you giving it. What is the objective. Is it to sell, is it to shock, is it simply to entertain.

When you remind yourself of your purpose – your method of ending becomes clear.

If you’re still unsure ask – I’ll be covering more on this soon.

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

To sober you up following my most recent “philosophical” posts, here’s some short sharp practical advice.

Eating and drinking well helps you be a better public speaker.

Specifically, making sure you are well fed – but not over stuffed – means you have energy and will not feel tight or bloated around your diaphragm.

Also your throat should be well lubricated. Ideally drink still water with a slice of lemon.

Alcohol and (to some extent tea, coffee and some soft drinks) will make your mouth dry.

The worst thing is gassy or carbonated drinks. Even worse is beer!  They’ll make you feel bloated and may even cause you to belch.

Why is this important?

I’ve already stressed in previous posts the importance of being relaxed when speaking in public.

Being over-full or perhaps just a little drunk can mimic some of the physical discomforts as fear.

Public speaking, especially for work – does require some discipline…

Abstain until it is your time to speak…Knock ’em dead with a great speech.

Then chill out and enjoy yourself!

If you’d like some help, training or coaching improve your public speaking confidence and presentation skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

They say you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs. It is equally true that you can’t make a great speaker without breaking stuff too…

Imagine you, the complete you, composed, ready and engaging to listen to – the “great” speaker, are an omelette.

Let’s start with the egg – that represents you. You are the foundation and the core – yet you are fragile and cannot dream of becoming what you aim to be, unless you break out of your shell.

The butter and seasonings are your skills. A great chef has to learn how much of each to use in order to get the perfect omelette. On some occasions he may be missing a key component. One day he’ll find that secret ingredient – the one that will make you a great speaker!

The filling, is of course, the content of your speech. Just ask a simple question here… Would a great chef make you an omelette without checking what kind of filling you’d like? Afford your audience the same respect – but be brave enough to add a little spice!

The sizzling hot pan represents the situation – the time and place where you stand up and speak. It is a hot, scary, dangerous place – but a place you need to be brave enough to jump in to. If you want to become an omelette it cannot be avoided – in the same way as facing an audience is essential if you want to become a great speaker.

Your character, humour, dress and visual aids represent the garnish. The right amount of the right kind of garnish turn a good competent omelette into a great meal. A well balanced “plate” presented to your audience rounds of a perfect experience for them…

The audience, of course, are the diners who will consume your speech. Get everything in balance, take the time to practice your technique and learn from others so you can leave them satisfied and ready to come back for more in the future.

What exactly do I mean by all this?

You cannot become a great speaker unless you actually break out of your chair and SPEAK! You can read my blog all you like – but what you really need to do is get up off your arse and practice speaking.

• You have to break habits - the bad ones, the ones that build barriers between you and your audience. I’m talking about umms, errs and less than ideal projection.
• You have to break rules - all the great speakers succeed through being unique – they are always themselves.
• You have to break barriers - the personal ones that hold you back – work at them ’til they crumble!

So go do it!

By all means go on a course or get some coaching, but remember public speaking is NOT an armchair sport – you have get out of your chair, go to the kitchen and start breaking eggs!

If you’d like some help, training or coaching improve your public speaking confidence and presentation skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

Many people are confused  about the difference between silence and quiet.

Silence is cold and hard – quiet is peaceful and warm.

Silence needs to be filled – yet quiet needs to be enjoyed.

Silence irks us – whilst quiet allows us to think.

Many inexperienced speakers feel moments of quiet as uneasy silences and as a result fill them with umms and errs or other meaningless waffle.

Be brave – and allow yourself (and your audience) to feel at ease in moments of quiet!

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

Have you ever wondered how the other half lived?

At a recent meeting of my local public speaking club I was asked to evaluate a set of “topics” speeches.

So, I had to sit through about 15 impromptu speeches of about three minutes each – then observe, critique and suggest ways the speakers could improve their performance for next time. On the face of it, that might sound quite a dull task. In fact I really enjoy it, as I love speaking and helping others improve.

Out of that particular experience came the inspiration for today’s public speaking tip. The room had been laid out differently to the norm that day. The audience’s seats were arranged in a much wider format, with fewer rows.

I guess it was twice as wide as the speakers were normally used to at a speakers club meeting. I was sat on the right hand side of the front row (stage left as it were) and observed something unusual.

Virtually all the speakers spent a lot of time making eye contact with me, much more than my fair share. Yes I was evaluating them, but I wasn’t the only person they had to impress. The rest of the audience needed to be entertained too! Whether you speaking to an audience for pleasure or even to a board of directors – everyone deserves your attention!

In a business scenario you can’t assume any one person is the only decision maker. There may be a main buyer at your presentation, but he will usually need to get approval from a whole board – so they all need to feel your presentation was for them.

Making good eye contact with a whole audience is the essence of building rapport. It takes a lot of practice in term of the mechanics of making it look natural, as well as requiring you to know your speech script well. Looking at notes too much, or even gazing upwards for inspiration (as many people tend to do… see here!) can be very destructive to your audience rapport.

Right-handed people have a tendency to veer left when walking and they do the same when addressing an audience. So quite often the “other half” get almost completely ignored. On this particular speaker’s club evening that trait was even more pronounced.

So the 5 key points to remember are:-

• Make sure you address the whole audience – everyone wants and needs to gain something from what you say
• Position your body squarely and gently move your stance from side to side at an even and unnoticeable pace
• Make eye contact with everyone – even in a big arena look everywhere!
• Don’t give anyone special favour with your eyes (unless you’re addressing them directly for a moment in your speech)
• Rehearse your material so you can keep unbroken eye contact throughout

And all the above, like anything in the wonderful world of public speaking,  takes work and practice!

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Overcome your fear of public speaking today – grab my Ebook now on Kindle for less than 1 $/£ !

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

Would you like a New Ipad?

Apple has just announced the New iPad. It is wonderful because it has an improved Retina Display, LTE connectivity making it able to transfer more information more effectively and yet it still has the classic iPad look. It works like an iPad always worked. It has the same quality build as an iPad and does everything the older iPads did – just better and more efficiently.

Now I am an Apple fan… I admit it!

You may, or may not be, a fan of Apple and iPads, iPhone and iMacs.

However as a public speaker or presenter – especially a public speaker or presenter who is looking to improve and enhance their public speaking abilities – the New iPad has a valuable lesson for you built into its very heart and fabric.

So many people come to me for public speaking coaching saying, “I want to be able to speak like this politician or that celebrity…”

I am blessed that many come to me asking “…to speak just like you Marc…”

The truth is you should aim to be a speaker like the New iPad. Yourself, just a whole lot better.

The wrong thing would be another person when you speak.

Rapport – that magical connection between you and your audience that makes your presentation or public speech work – is built on honesty and truth.

Apple CEO Tim Cook didn’t build a New iPad and say “It’s just like an Samsung Galaxy Tab …”

The Apple philosophy of building a brand and improving it rather than simply copying another is what has made them the most successful corporation on the planet in recent years.

Take a leaf from the Apple tree – be like the New iPad. Be yourself, be more effective and sharper and you’ll transfer a whole lot more valuable information to your audience.

You just a whole lot better!

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

When engaged in a multi-person, subjectively complicated, presentational scenario, complicated multi-syllabic technically oriented technospeak is best avoided unless absolutely relevant.

Or put another way…

When speaking about technical matters – keep your words simple.

In fact we should strive to keep our words clear, concise and easy to understand in any presentation. I’m not suggesting you use a limited vocabulary, nor that you avoid “playing” with words for effect. That certainly adds value to what you have to say.

It is good practice to plan and write out what you wish to say. Weed out lengthy or complex words that are challenging to pronounce.

Adverbs (ly – words) are prime targets… The words that follow them can sometimes lose their impact both vocally and in meaning.

Keep it simple – keep it clear and make your message more memorable!

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

Some times when you hear people speak, everything flows neatly – it just seems to fit.

Other times you get the impression people seem to waffle on and on droning like they don’t care much about how the words the utter will sound simply hoping the listener can make send of it all without having really thought about the consequence of what they have to say nor how it will sound to the poor audience they are subjecting to their pointless drivel.

Most of us have problems remembering our speeches – so we resort to using notes. Yet – we’re all more than capable of remembering poetry or songs.

Their structure and rhythm make it work for us! Compare the two opening lines of this post for a real life example.

As a speaker you have to lead your audience. Humans are much easier to control with rhythm than with too many words because it gives a structure on which to build memories.

Listen again to your favourite speaker – hear how they use rhythm to structure their talks.

This technique is especially powerful in building openings, closings and straplines – more of which on another occasion.

If you’d like to improve your public speaking and presentation skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment if this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

If you’re speaking to persuade or convince (not in a sales situation) try not to make your point or state your position at the opening of your speech.

Why? Your audience will have their own opinions already. If what you say doesn’t agree with their view, they’ll just switch off. The rest of your presentation will be a waste of your breath.

Let’s say you’re trying to promote a “Fordian” view – that every car should be black. The members of your audience will have a range of views on the subject. Some may not care, some may think black is bad and others may see white as the way forward.

If you then open your speech with “I believe all cars should be black…” you’ll have a tough enough job keeping two thirds of them listening to you – let alone bending towards your opinion.

Make a debate out of the subject… “Have you seen how the different colours of cars can affect the way people behave on the roads?” Use logic and examples to illustrate your point and opinion. Lure those watching your speech into your way of thinking.

You will not convince everyone – but you will keep the debate alive!

If you’d like to improve your public speaking skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment on how this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

Whatever the purpose of your speech – you need to “convince” or “persuade” the audience that you are credible and that they should pay attention to what you have to say.

No matter how good your message, or how “clever” your persuasive rhetoric, if you do not seem credible and likeable you’re unlikely to win them over.

I give many speeches and often speak on the same subject to different audiences. One day I may be speaking to teenagers about to leave school and on the next day it could be a group of retired business people. So do I deliver my presentations in the same way?

No. I use different pace, different phrases, different slang and even dress differently to “fit in”.

Know who your audience is. Think about how they see the world, what they believe in and what social behaviours they may find acceptable or otherwise.

Adapt what you have to say in your speech to fit – and they will see you as someone they like. That’s half the battle won!

If you’d like to improve your public speaking skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment on how this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

There is a popular urban myth in Britain that landladies of holiday guest houses used a crafty strategy to impress their guests.

On the first evening they would give then a fantastic meal. On the last morning a breakfast to remember. The rest of the the week the food would be mediocre at best! The holidaymakers would go home with great memories ready to book again and tell all their friends.

You can apply almost the same strategy to your public speaking and presentations.

I’ve talked before about having a great opening. More important than what you say is how well you say it. Memorise and practice it well. This isn’t just about the dynamics of your voice – it is critical you are not bound by a script so you can engage your audience with some good eye-contact.

The same applies to your closing too!

BEWARE… this is not an excuse for having poor content in the middle of your speech in the same way the landlady serves poor food midweek. This is a great way of really upping your game.

A bonus tip is this.. If you have a speech that is more than 6 to 8 minutes consider having more than one sub-opening/closing as you move from chapter to chapter.

If you’d like help developing presentation strategies or just want to improve your public speaking skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment on how this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

Some times things just fit together so well you could be forgiven for thinking there was vast divine plan at work!

I was asked a question by Tracey Allen (@dingdongevents) on my Facebook Fan Page. “I have an issue with the sound of my own voice when public speaking -I just sound monotone and boring – any ideas?”

Of course I do Tracey – there are two approaches to consider.

Firstly – remember that almost every problem people have speaking is caused, or at least exacerbated, by the old chestnut of fear. That is dealt with extensively on my blog/fanpage.

The second approach is to start thinking harder about your words, their rhythm, tone and meaning. Practice your speech and try to “feel” the words. Listen to what they are telling you. In essence start thinking about your speech as a song!

I’m not expecting you to stand up and belt out a Broadway Show-Stopper – just think how the words themselves suggest variation and intonation just as the lyrics of a song do.

Let’s go right back to our childhood and think about a nursery rhyme…

You will no doubt know the tune to this – play it over a few times in your head. Think about how the tone and pitch of each bell changes to match the “characters” and the “story”. Read the rhyme aloud to yourself. Don’t sing it – but do mimic the sounds of each bell that you recall from your childhood. Try this with some other rhymes or even songs that you know and like.

Remember – don’t sing – SPEAK!  try to capture the flow of the song.

You see a song is like a story -  your speeches and talks should be too. Think about the words and what you wish them to evoke in your audiences mind and play it out!

Oh and that divine plan? Tracey from Dingdong asked a question. The answer was to use a Ding-dong (Cockney Rhyming Slang for song!) about some old ding-dongs!

If you have a question or would like some personalised public speaking coaching post on my Facebook Page – email or, of course… give me a BELL

07904 262138

Feel free to comment on how this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

If you look at any advice about the fear of public speaking, no matter who the coach or trainer is, there is one key factor that is common to all.

The fear is very real – but it is essential. The problem is not the fear itself,  but rather the control we let that fear exert over us.

So take control of that fear. Learn how to harness it to your own benefit. Stare that fear straight in the eye and say…

YOU’RE FIRED!

Unlike Lord Sugar… you don’t even have to say “with regret.”

Kill it.  Put it firmly in its place AND MEAN IT!

For FREE public speaking tips  on dealing with the fear of public speaking – follow my FanPage or for direct help get in touch today.

Feel free to comment on how this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

One issue many nervous public speakers suffer with is controlling their breath. They may be able to breathe well as an exercise, but can’t control their speaking at the same time.

They may exhale too quickly and then cannot correctly enunciate their words. The result is a poorly delivered speech.

Here’s how to deal with that problem.

Take a look at yesterday’s tip and practice it well. Now extend the exercise further by saying your vowels in turn as you breathe out – one breath for each. Make every vowel sound long and resonant. This will help induce breath and voice control when speaking in public.

For FREE public speaking tips every day – follow my FanPage or for direct help get in touch today.

Feel free to comment on how this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

I’ve explained before how good breathing technique not only helps calm nerves but also helps you pace your speaking.

Here’s a further exercise – essentially an extension of a breathing technique I’ve explained before – that will help you with your public speaking.

Breathe in through the nose and out through your mouth as I have suggested before. As you breathe in, count from one to five. Don’t rush, allow one second for each number. Hold your breath in for just one second. Now release it and count to five at the same pace as before.

Now try and slow your breathing by counting from one to six. Count to six as you breathe out too.

Keep working at it, adding more numbers until you can count to ten. Make sure you count the same number in as you do out. This may take several short bouts of practice over some days.

I hope that helps.

If you’d like help calming your speaking nerves, or just want to improve your public speaking skills – get in touch!

Feel free to comment on how this tip has helped you, share your own ideas or ask a public speaking question – Marc will try to help!

Overcome your fear of public speaking today – grab my Ebook now on Kindle for less than 1 $/£ !

When you stand in front of an audience you speak with authority. The very fact you are there makes it so.

Use your power wisely – guide and suggest ideas for your audience to consider. Mindless dictation and indoctrination will cause a revolution!

With the right attitude one of positive humility – you will be a great leader.