Reflecting back about a week ago, I blogged about glossophobia, a medical condition where people are afraid of public speaking. I also mentioned that almost three out of four people have a fear of public speaking and that this fear can be even greater than the fear of death?

 While there were no completed surveys, after some thought myself, my top 3 greatest fears are heights, snakes and insects. While public speaking didn’t make my top 3, it did rank #4.

Picture source: http://samingersoll.com/category/success-skills/stage-fright/

The following links show that public speaking is ranked within the top 2 greatest fears and this fear is greater than the fear of death.

1)      Public Speaking ranked #1 and Death #7:   http://www.speaking-tips.com/Articles/Overcome-Your-Fear-of-Presenting.aspx

2)      Public Speaking ranked #2 and Death #6:   http://www.selfhelpcollective.com/top-10-fears.html

3)      Public Speaking ranked #1 and Death #7 :  http://discoveryourdestiny.blogspot.com/2004/08/top-10-fears.html
  

So tell me; was anyone surprised by the results?  Would you have guessed that your top fear may have been public speaking?  Even if that was not your fear, were you surprised by the surveys in general?  Do you think they are biased, or true because of human nature?
             

References:

Glossophobia.com. (n.d.). Do You Suffer From Glossophobia?. Retrieved from http://glossophobia.com/

Public Speaking Tips. (2004, July 12). Overcoming Your Fear of Presenting. Retrieved from http://www.speaking-tips.com/Articles/Overcome-Your-Fear-of-Presenting.aspx

SelfHelpCollective.com. (n.d.). Are These Your Top 10 Fears?. Retrieved from http://www.selfhelpcollective.com/top-10-fears//

            If Peter wanted to add extra life and clarity into your presentation, he would stress the importance of using “gestures, vocal variety, energy, and visual aids”.  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 513).

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            Peter has a good point.  If you are giving a presentation and speak in a monotone or robotic type voice, seem unnatural and stiff, read from a script and have no pictures or videos to help clarify your ideas, you’ll likely sound boring and your audience may fall asleep or even worse, leave. 

Gesturing means using facial or body movement to show your ideas and emotions over a subject. Vocal variety is the combination of pitch (such as looow pitch, hiiiigh pitch), tone (I’M FINE!!, This is awkward.), volume (hello; hello ), and rate of speech (This   is   the    author   of  the  book……; Thisistheauthorofthebook……;)  and is used to add energy to your words . When you use vocal variety, it shows that you are speaking from the heart.  Visual aids include posters, props or PowerPoint’s, for example, as a reference to help your audience understand what you are saying.  When these factors are used together, the audience will enjoy listening and watching to your presentation, and will likely attend another presentation of yours in the future.

Here are some great links to show you how to improve your presentation skills:

http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/toastmasters-speech-6-vocal-variety/

http://ezinearticles.com/?Giving-A-Great-Speech-7-Secrets-To-Dynamic,-Memorable-Public-Speaking&id=633728

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s1H5m0S-sdQ&feature=player_embedded

Hey, if you know of any other good sites to share, please let me know.

References:

Guffey, M, Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter14.

write-out-loud,com. (n.d.). Quick Easy Effective Tips for Vocal Variety. Retrieved from http://www.write-out-loud.com/quickeasyeffectivetipsforvocalvariety.html

         Let’s revisit Peter again.  Peter believed that if you use a system, anything is possible. His system when communicating with audiences or people included a 5 step process.  It included planning, research, writing, updating or customizing it for the audience and most importantly, practising it over and over and over again until the delivery was just right. “Many presentations fail because people try too hard to achieve perfection in the content of their speech as opposed to spending time rehearsing the delivery of your message.”  (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 513)

Picture source: http://www.vecteezy.com/Business/3241-Business-Presentation

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I agree with Peter that the delivery of the presentation is more important than the content.  You may know the content really well and be an expert in the subject area, but it is how you communicate it that keeps the audience interested.  If you have a monotone voice, use too many technical words that are not common to the audiences’ language and only read your PowerPoint presentation rather than speaking to them, chances are that the audience will be very bored, restless and not see you as the expert that you are.

Imagine being in a room of 40 people. Some of them are your closest friends while others are there to evaluate your performance and expertise for an upcoming conference. How would you deliver your presentation knowing who is your audience?

Reference:

Guffey, M., Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14.

Do you know that almost three out of four people have a fear of public speaking and that this fear can be even greater than the fear of death?  Glossophobia is the medical term for this condition.  Symptoms can range from intense anxiety  that comes right before you are about to speak to your audience, or when you are only thinking about doing it, to physical symptoms  that come from feeling scared (e.g. increased blood pressure that makes your heart beat really fast, nausea, stiff neck/upper back muscles are tense, sweating).  People who have an extreme fear of public speaking will even try to avoid it altogether and if possible remove themselves from the situation. ("Glossphobia," n.d.)

I believe that I am one of the 75% of people who are afraid of public speaking.  ("Glossphobia," n.d.)  You see, this blog is my research assignment for my college course at Sheridan College HMC Campus in Mississauga, Ontario.   The assignment was to either do blogging or to give a presentation. The PowerPoint presentation had to be videotaped and sent to YouTube to be evaluated by my classmates and the professor.  Well, you can see what I chose. Even though I’m scared of presentations, I don’t mind them. What I don’t like is to be filmed because I get nervous when I see myself in videos or hear my own voice over a recoding. My fear is that I won’t sound good or look good like other presenters do.  So, blogging it is, but at least I can get to try something that I never have before.

Now time for some fun!   I’d like to conduct a quick survey, and would appreciate your input. I will   reveal the results in a future blog. Here’s my question: What are your top three greatest fears?  Please post your answers in the comment section below.

In case you haven't seen the video in my first posting, take a look!


References:

Glossophobia.com. (n.d.). Do You Suffer From Glossophobia?. Retrieved from http://glossophobia.com/

Picture Source: www.ClipartOt.com/1048749

Hello everyone!  My name is Michael Fantin. I would like to tell you about a famous presenter I learned about, and provide some interesting facts about public speaking / presentations.  It has been said that the most important skill in business is communication.  So let me take you on an interesting tour of this topic, while we reflect on Peter, “Canada’s Presentation Guru” (Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 485)  Just to keep everyone up-to-date, I will be posting every few days. Enjoy!

         “My past was perfect to get me where I am today.”  “The main thing I learned was that to everything there is a system.  If you learn the system, even a mediocre person can be successful.”(Guffey, Rhodes, Rogin, n.d., p. 485) These are some of the great words of Peter Urs Bender, who was a best-selling Canadian author and international lecturer and speaker.  He believed that no matter what your past was, no matter what hardships you had, you could overcome them to achieve great success. 

Born in Basel, Switzerland on September 9^th, 1944, Peter had a difficult time in school. He often felt frustrated and believed that he was a total failure. Peter immigrated to Canada when he was 23. As an adult, when his son was diagnosed with dyslexia, he realized that he also had the same learning disability; a disability that makes reading and writing difficult.

While working at a high tech company, Peter was asked by his employer to take a Dale Carnegie course. The course helped him realize the importance of communication, presentation and overall leadership skills. Peter was so inspired that he decided to help people around the world to become better speakers. After the course, he continued to further develop his skills and, through perseverance, began teaching at Ryerson University where he made his lectures fun and easy to understand.

In 1987, Peter started a public speaking business and in 1990, he self-published his first of five books called Secrets to Power Presentations. Peter, also known as "Canada's Presentation Guru", ("Peter Urs Bender: A Canadian Self-Taught Leader", 2011, p. 485), informed, entertained, and motivated audiences all over the world.   His success came from knowing his audience, being down-to-earth, keeping his message simple and speaking the language of his audience.

Unfortunately, Peter Urs Bender died on March 7^th, 2005 after a courageous struggle with Cancer, but his legacy still lives on.

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            This article inspired me because it shows that you can achieve great things in life as long as you work hard and, follow a system. 

             Personally, I am always nervous when I have to make a presentation.  I become so overwhelmed that I start to feel warm, dizzy, sweaty, and fidgety. I even start to doubt myself. Am I going to say my material right? Is the audience going to like what I have to say? Will they be bored? Will they be hostile? Maybe I haven't prepared well enough. But, I manage through my anxiety by rehearsing my lines before I give my presentation, and I pretend the presentation is not a big deal. By doing this, I put my mind at ease, and I am better able to focus on getting through the presentation.  With a clear mind, I am also able to calm myself down and use critical thinking to adjust my presentation as I go.  This might be the system that Peter talks about.

             Whether you’re a student, employee or business owner, presentation skills are key to your success.  What challenges have you faced when giving a presentation?  

Can this be you?  You are not alone!!

Watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGhwrCMAFRQ                                     

References:

Guffey, M., Rhodes, K., Rogin, P. (2011). Business Communication: Process and Product. (Canadian 6th ed.)  Toronto, ON: Nelson. Chapter 14.

Moore, S. (n.d.). Peter Urs Bender: Biography of a self-taught leader. Retrieved from http://www.peterursbender.com/fullbio.html

Picture source http://www.creativekeys.net/PowerfulPresentations/article1023.html