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Stand Tall And Speak With Both Passion And An Open Heart

Public speaking or to be able to speak when it really counts, onstage or in life, is a fear most people face. We experience hits and misses in such situations. Our real potential as a speaker remains trapped inside us. Lauri Smith gives some great public speaking tips.

Speaking Skills Training Lauri Smith CEO of Voice Matters

There are moments public speaking moments, dynamic board room conversations moments, smaller group or one on one conversations – when you need to speak with confidence and clarity.

What you say and how you say it reveals you as a person. This creates an impact and inspires people. Your passion and your manner of verbally projecting the same in important conversations will mark you as a leader and an influencer.

Maya Angelou rightly quotes "l have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

The greatest example is Martin Luther King's legendary 'I have a Dream' speech. The words along with the passion they aroused in the crowd are what sparked a historic movement.

Visualization Experiment

Lauri Smith urges you to imagine yourself in three situations that matter. Examples are being a speaker on an international Ted Talks stage, an active board meeting and a meeting with a senior in your work place.

In each visualization, notice your feelings - mentally, physically, energetically and emotionally. Then analyse your observations.

You would have felt your heart pounding, sweaty palms and armpits, breathlessness or rapid heartbeat. Some people would have felt fine or no sensation which actually means numbness.

The best way to handle this is to breathe deeply, take in all the adrenaline and convert it into energy.

Important Tips

  1. Root in a sense of purpose. Connect to your ‘why’. Notice and silence your inner critic which tells you that you are not good enough. Focus on your values instead.

  2. Breathe life into the experience. Breathe deep and use the power of your breath to speak and throw your voice. Master the silences. Pause and give audience the time to digest your words.

  3. Energize yourself and the space by anchoring and including the audience with intuition and charisma.

These tips will put you on the path of being a good public speaker.

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