Disaster At The Lectern - Introduction
Posted: Tuesday, January 06, 2009
by Nancy Daniels
Voice Dynamic
(This is the Introduction from a book I am currently working on. The subtitle is: What NOT to Do Before Opening Your Mouth to Speak. Your comments would be greatly appreciated.)
They say that man's greatest fear is public speaking; his second greatest fear is dying. Imagine that – most people would rather be dead than stand and give a speech! But did you know that man's 3rd greatest fear is dying while public speaking?
No one has yet died on the podium to my knowledge. Certainly there have been heart attacks on stage while performing, but as far as the spoken word is concerned, no one has actually died while standing there. Your knees may be shaking, your voice may be quivering, your mouth may feel like the Today, everyone is speaking. And, the ability to be a dynamic public speaker can make all the difference in just how successful you are in your business life and even your personal life.
Public speaking is a wonderful means of networking. It introduces you to new people who get to hear about you and/or your business without having to say it to each and every person in the room. In fact, public speaking can be your best tool for getting exposure very quickly.
While most articles and books on public speaking give advice on how to be a dynamic speaker, I thought it might be interesting to tell you what not do before you walk up to that lectern. Incidentally do you know the difference between a podium and a lectern? While the former has several definitions, for the public speaker, the podium is a dais, a small raised platform in a hall or large room. Symphony conductors stand on them as well as public speakers. Therefore, unless you are walking around it, you never speak at the podium, you speak on the podium. Likewise, since Webster's Dictionary defines lectern as a reading desk from which scripture lessons are read in a church service, it is better to stand at the lectern and not on it!
Whether you are standing on a podium or at a lectern, or at the head of the boardroom table, there are many things I suggest you do not do if you want a second chance to get up and speak. My advice comes from many years of experience as a professional speaker. Some of the things I will share with you I learned the hard way – in some cases, those hard lessons cost me potential business; therefore, if you know what not to do, you most definitely will be better off than I was in the beginning of my career.
The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, group and corporate training throughout the United States and Canada in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement and public speaking. For more information, visit her website at: http://www.voicedynamic.com
This Article has been viewed 775 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
More commentsNancy,Good article. And very informative as well. Especially this: "...Public speaking is a wonderful means of networking..."Thanks for sharingThank you Ronyae (lovely name). The more situation in which you can speak, the more people you will meet.True...and thanks on the name compliment :)
Excellent article, Nancy. I enjoyed it and it is also helpful informtion. I've been obligated to speak before a crowd a nmber of times, but I still feel out of place and feel as if everyone is checking to see if my clothes fit well. I don't really quake and stammer as I once did, but I continue to be uncomfortable. It is alright if I know the entire audience, but that is seldom the case.Joel, I'm actually less comfortable if I know the audience. I've worked with a lot of people, however, who agree with you. Thank you for your comment.
I actually somwhat enjoy public speaking. Im 14 but I did a Star event through FCCLA last year which meant that I would be speaking to groups of about one hundred people at a time to pay my way to nationals. I was really nervous at first and couldnt even speak to my teacher but I was stuck on doing this. I think that this would be helpful to many people. Just coincidentally my communications class just learned that the #1 fear is speaking! Thanks!Hi Hayley, Thank you for sharing about the Star event and Congratulations! I am delighted that you read my article and I wish you the best in your future. Keep up the good work!
Hi Nancy, I think this is a great introduction, but as a curious person, I would like to read an example of what not to do in the introduction or at least on the back cover, this would cause me to want to know more. I like how you explained the difference betweena podium and a lectern. Must be why speeches are usually called lectures. All the best on your book! TeresaTeresa, I do love your comments and agree with you. This intro is actually my Foreword (although now you have me thinking that maybe I should make it an intro.) All the chapters include examples as well as true stories of things that have happened to me and to others. I would definitely include a good anecdote on the back cover or inside jacket however. Good advice.
Hi Nancy,I like your intro, especially the beginning about dying, or should I say not dying. It was quite funny. I really dislike public speaking when standing up behind a lectern, or on a podium! I don't mind it so much if I get to sit (on a table) or with the people I'm talking to- less formal for me =more comfortable.Good luck with the book! ValVal, I don't like lecterns either...I find them limiting. Walking for me is the best. Thanks for commenting.
Hi Nancy,It is an excellent intro, but I have to agree with Teresa. Even one example would make for a good hook.Luck (but you probably don't need that),DianneOh Dianne, We all need luck (or knowing the right person at the right time), don't we?[I'm sitting on another book and wondering what to do with it. Has nothing to do with public speaking. But after getting involved with SearchWarp and reading all these wonderful articles, this website might just be the place to get started with it.]
Nancy,Yes, I'd be interested in the specifics of what not to do. I'm always looking for tips. As a former introvert and shyest-person-ever-to-live-on-earth (yes, I checked with the dead ;=)) I know what it means to fear public speaking. However, like many if not most things, one can change and overcome. Now, after performing, speaking, and lecturing for over twenty years, I've done it thousands of times. The only suggestion I can give is to do it until you can't do it no more and then do it again and again and again and again, then after the five-hundredth time, you're beginning to master the skill.
The first time I got up to speak in front of people was as a standup comic. I was to do five minutes, and even after weeks and weeks and weeks of practicing my lines, I was so scared I only got a minute in before I forgot everything. I got off stage, laid on the floor in the back under the belly of an ant and licked my wounds. However, some five years later , I was in demand doing twenty, thirty, forty minutes, leaving them rolling in the aisles. (I actually saw people rolling onto their knees in laughter ;=))
One of my heroes, Eleanor Roosevelt, overcame great shyness and fear to become a uber-successful advocate for the poor and downtrodden. If it can be done, you can overcome. There is nothing to fear but fear itself. Eleanor's lesser-known hubby said that one. ;=)
Good luck with the book.
Jeff, I loved your comments. Indeed, Eleanor Roosevelt was a great speaker and trained with Elisabeth von Hesse (a voice lady as well). I congratulate you on your ability to get up and do it again. One of my first articles for SearchWarp is entitled What Causes Debilitating Fear in Public Speaking and I address this issue of true panic, often caused by a traumatic experience during a presentation. There is no doubt that creating as many opportunities as possible to practice public speaking, i.e., Toastmasters can be very beneficial. My only advice with Toastmasters is to never lose your individuality. The best speakers are themselves first and foremost.Thank you,P.S. Are you still performing?
Nancy,I've never stopped performing comedy. Even as a college professor and now a business person / speaker, it's a key part of who I am. Like I say, you can't touch 'em if you aren't touched (like, in the head). I find the best and brightest to be a little "off the beaten path," and the most interesting. God bless.
Nancy,During my college public speaking class we would critique the speaker. The class audience became very good at "beating up and berating" the victim at the podium. One day Les (last name withheld) a small town guy from Hondo, Texas, got to the podium and after about a minute appeared to be having a stroke as he turned white, repeated a part of his speech three times and slurred a little more with each word and fell to the ground. He did not die but he did scare us. At that point we all saw that it could have been any one of us the was hugging the floor with fear.We discussed poor Les and decided audience dynamics are also barriers to effective speaking. For me, I have had many public speaking duties for over 20 years in business and public venues and decided to always relax with the audience (even when the audience appeared hostile). The main thought being that if they were silly enough to be there to hear me speak, I should just do the best I could.Best of luck with the book! I will watch for it.John,I loved your story! Unfortunately in public speaking class when I was in college back in the '70's, the students critiqued the speaker by means of private notes. Not a positive experience for the girls because the remarks from the guys usually didn't discuss the presentation...you can imagine the rest.When I taught at post-secondary schools, I always had the class voice their opinions and I found it to be beneficial because the students gave helpful criticism in a positive manner. Possibly the difference with my experiences was that I was teaching either at the graduate school level, in which the students were more mature, or at the county level, in which the students came from a variety of backgrounds, and class status was not in the picture.Relaxing with the audience is good advice. I believe that controlling your nervousness and allowing it to work for you and not against you is the best means of accomplishing that feat.Thanks for your great comments!
What's interesting is writing is a different media / medium than speaking and has its on requirements for grabbing the reader's interests and holding his or her attention. Color your writing with emotion: the eye only sees the word in writing, so the writer must provide color and sound, texture and light, pictures and feeling. You write well; take your good skills and be: a writer!Paint and tell sound and feeling, ideas and images in the silence of words!Walter,Thanks for your inspiring words. I often question, however, how much is too much? In a 'soft-boiled who-done-it' that I wrote many years ago, an agent slashed the word grudgingly in the following sentence: ...as the tires grudgingly hit numerous potholes in the dirt road. Can you explain why? Personally, I thought that it was quite colorful.Would love to hear your thoughts.
More comments
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.