Stand up. Speak up. Sit down.
The essence of public speaking summed up in six words.
This advice came from a international speaker who gave thousands of presentations across the U.S. and around the world. He spoke with confidence, delivered with enthusiasm, and was a popular speaker.
Amateurs apply two or four of these words. Amazing speakers use all six.
Stand Up
75+ percent of people fear public speaking. 3 out of 4 people listen to fear and would rather sit in the chair than speak to an audience. The solution? Stand up.
Public speaking is like leaping into a cold pool of water on a hot day. When you first step in, there is a shock to the system. Keep floundering around (if you don’t know how to swim) and within a couple minutes it will feel better.
Choose action and refuse to listen to fearful thinking and feelings.
In my public speaking classes and in Speak with Confidence, I teach how to stand up with confidence. When a person has great posture and does three other things, they will instantly reduce their fear and speak with confidence.
Many people have a story or a message that can influence and help many people. Fear is keeping them entrapped. Are you of them?
Take the first step. Stand up. Deliver your message.
Speak Up
When I heard this phrase, I thought of my 89 year old great-aunt with $5,000 hearing aids. Those hearing aids seemed to work like ear plugs. Wonderful aunt but technology seemed to fail her as we still had to shout.
That’s not entirely what this international speaker ment.
It means to speak with enthusiasm. Put fire into your presentation. Speak with energy.
Too many speakers are like a lethargic team of overpaid sports players on a losing team with nothing to play for.
Act enthusiastic and you will feel enthusiastic. Put energy into your voice and body language and you will create energy in the room.
Enthusiasm is contagious. Your audience will get the fever and respond.
Here is one simple tip. Lean forward slightly when you speak. You’ll be amazed at how this subtle change will impact the energy level.
This is covered more in depth in Become a Better Speaker in One Evening.
Sit Down
“End early and leave your audience begging for more.”
Its better to end 5 minutes too early than 5 minutes too late.
People despise planes that circle the airport for extra time waiting to land. Speakers who go overtime are similarly irritating.
Unless you are very popular, have tremendous content, or are paying your audience by the minute, your audience will not appreciate you going over time.
Here are a few tips:
- Speak 10% shorter than you are asked. If you are to give a 10 minute presentation, speak 9 minutes. (Unless you have to keep a meeting on schedule.)
- Open hot, close hotter. Have an excellent conclusion to wrap up the speech. Leave them on a high.
- Be prepared to cut content from your speech. It is inevitable that others will refuse to sit down and your time will be cut short. Reward the audience and cut your time down. They’ll thank you for it.
- Watch the audience. They will tell you when they are bored. Change things up or cut content if need be.
One of my mentors told me, “Arlen, if you want to be successful, get back to the basics and do them well.” In public speaking these include:
Stand Up, Speak Up, Sit Down.
