A random internet search for cures for fear of public speaking produces over 2 million results. That is a shame.

No matter how many books, courses, DVDs, websites or snake oil salesmen promise to “cure” you of your fear of public speaking; it is never that simple, or that easy. And that is ok.

The reality is that every executive has a rush of adrenaline before presenting – the normal “fight or flight” response. Nervous energy, properly channeled, actually enhances a presentation.

So how can you help to alleviate and effectively channel some of the tension and anxiety prior to your next presentation?

Here are 25 Tips that will help:

1. Prepare - The more you prepare and the better handle you have on the material you are presenting, the better it will go.
2. Practice – Once you have prepared, you MUST practice, early and often. Rumor has it that Churchill practiced for one hour per one minute of speech content he was delivering. 5 minute presentation = 5 hours practice. How long are you practicing?
3. Check out the Room – Familiarity breeds comfort. Surprise s the day of a presentation are not fun and ratchet up anxiety tenfold. Is there a podium? What technology are you using and does it work?
4. Read the Room – While not always an option, when you have the opportunity to meet a few audience members beforehand, take it! Arrive ten minutes early and introduce yourself to a few people. If you are presenting mid-day, arrive before a key break to meet a few folks.
5. “Seed” the Audience – Ask friends, associates or colleagues come to your presentation. Talk to the conference organizers when you arrive. Locate them before you take the stage, if possible. Identify where friendly faces are sitting. The purpose – to have friendly faces to focus on if the anxiety starts to build
6. Remember the audience is on your side – 9 times out of 10, the audience is rooting for you to succeed, not waiting for you to fall flat.

Please share this with colleagues as there are a lot of people who suffer from this fear that can benefit from some or all of these tips. Part II will follow shortly.

Technology has penetrated every crevice of the working environment, it has not, and will not, replace the value and importance of face-to-face human interaction. This is often where it gets tricky.

Recently there have been some great articles with lots of terrific points from great sources, including a few I have contributed to in the New York Times, Investor’s Business Daily, Forbes and Entrepreneur, around potential pitfalls to avoid when meshing our new found mobility with face-to-face interaction in the workplace.

While this post is not a definitive guide by any means, but these 11 tips will help to safely navigate the new workplace, and avoid situations that put a lot of people in bad positions each and every day:

#1 Smartphones are not always associated with work – Fairly or unfairly, tablets and iPhones are often associated with activities such as texting and other non-work activities (unlike laptops). Be aware of that when you pull one out in a meeting; so,

#2 Tell us! – Many people (myself included) take notes digitally. If you do pull out a Smartphone or tablet and are going to proceed with notating in a meeting, tell other attendees “I use my iPad to take notes” – this will prevent us from wondering if you are updated Facebook or playing Medal of Honor while discussions of the company’s financial future go on.

#3 Social Media – Many organizations have a social media policy (and every organization should!) That being said, if you have work friends who are also on social media, realize that if you actually are using your Smartphone or iPad to post to Facebook or to tweet while in said meeting, do not assume the content or the time you posted it will remain a secret. Not really earth-shattering, but it happens, to some individual’s detriment, every day.

#4 Laptops – I often present in corporate conference rooms, and often see 8 or more people whip out the laptop to take notes at a medium sized conference table. This is one area where I think tablets are actually more effective – when a conference table is full of laptops and everyone is seated, there are big 13-17″ barriers between colleagues, and between the presenter and the audience.

#5 Set Rules – If it is your meeting, set the rules. Ask people to set their phones to vibrate, or to turn them off. Asking people not to take notes digitally is a stretch, but asking them not to check email while meeting is not.

#6 Discretion – Some things are unavoidable. Important phone calls come in, and there are critical emails we all get. What is avoidable is lack of communication around those. If you are expecting a critical call, tell everyone before the meeting starts so there is no confusion when you excuse yourself.

#7 Email over everything – Constantly checking your smartphone or tablet email client in front of colleagues, clients, or the boss (I’ve seen all 3) sends a message you don’t want to send. Again, if you are awaiting a critical or time sensitive email, let people know. If you think you are multi-tasking while speaking to a colleague and typing away, you are incorrect. Your colleague may never say anything, but you have sent the message that the text or email is more important.

#8 Email Does Not Emote! – Emails are rarely seen as being too soft. Emails have no intonation, no emotion, no tone, no gestures, no facial expressions, no timbre, etc. Remember that – if there is even the slightest chance that your email might be misinterpreted, pick up the phone.

#9 Context – The other place where email often misses the mark, and causes hurt feelings at best and lots of lost productivity at worst, is context. You send a well thought out, well constructed email to a colleague. The response is “fine.” The sender wonders why the curt, short email. The responder feels good about it, as he or she just landed, had 100 emails in the inbox, and wanted to get a response out to everyone. Without context provided, context can often be invented. That never turns out well.

#10 – Remote Team Members – If you have a team where most employees work on sight, and one or two members work remotely, those team members are at a disadvantage. There is a camaraderie that forms just from being around people for many hours every day. Make a real effort to ensure that remote team members are on sight to interact face-to-face at least a few times a year. Videoconferencing does not, and will not, replace that.

# 10 +++ – Attention! – Finally, when someone is talking to you, try not to look at your smartphone. We are all guilty of it, me included, but occasions turn into habits, and habits often surface at very inopportune times. Give the person in front of you your full attention. It matters. People have lost jobs, important jobs, because of this.

Today is a special day in the world of public speaking and communication. Today is the 89th anniversary of the death of William Bourke Cockran, who in my estimation may be one of the greatest speakers of all time.  Who is William Bourke Cockran, and how can I make such a bold statement, having never witnessed him speak, as he passed away well before speeches were recorded on video?

I have been fascinated by the ability of an individual to influence through spoken word since I was a young boy.  I am often asked what orator has had the biggest impact on me,  and my oratorical role model is  Sir Winston Churchill.  And who was Churchill’s oratorical role model?

William  Bourke Cockran, a Congressman from New York City in the early 1900s was described in his day as the greatest orator in the land.  He also served as a role model, and the oratorical role model, for a young Winston Churchill.  It was not just Churchill who held Cockran in such high regard as an orator – it was the vast majority of his peers.  The sad fact is that William Bourke Cockran might be the greatest speaker who no one knows about.  Books are few and far between, with my favorite being Becoming Winston Churchill: The Untold Story of Young Winston and his American Mentor, written by Michael McMenamin and Curt Zoller.   There are not many internet resources dedicated to Cockran, and even his Wikipedia entry is lacking. 

Congressman Cockran was noted for his ability to move colleagues and constituents to support causes or even change positions due his magnificent oratory.  Churchill once wrote to Cockran, about Cockran, “…there are few more fascinating experiences than to watch a great mass of people under the wand of a magician….”

Finding information might be difficult, but there are clear lessons that young Churchill and many other leaders took away from Cockran.  Here are a few,  some taken from books, comments from Cockran’s congressional colleagues, and my choice as the the best essay about his public speaking strengths, written by Professor Brian Leggett:

1. Rhythm – Every speech should have a rhythm, although most don’t.  Cockran was known for his rhythmic speeches, and many noticed, including Churchill;

2. Presence – Cockran knew the power of presence and using both his body, gestures and his voice to captivate and move (so can you – no matter your body type, height, weight, voice, you can use your best qualities to your advantage, and EVERYBODY has natural strengths – it is just a matter of finding them;)

3. Conversational language – Every presentation is a conversation, verbally and non-verbally;

4. Power of Delivery;

5. Subject Matter Expertise - Cockran was known not only for his oratorical skill, but for his mastery of the subject upon which he spoke;

Congressman Charles O’Brien (D-NJ), at Cockran’s Memorial Service:

“Much has been said and written about his ability as an orator. For ages to come his will be the standard upon which men of similar genius will be judged.  In all history of the world, no man has surpassed and few have equaled him.”

We are a little over three weeks into 2012, with myriad communication disasters, from major crisis communication errors to communication errors that have directly resulted in a crisis. 

Why?

Failure to remember the ABC’s of effective communication.

I am excited to announce that I have written a manifesto, published today by ChangeThis,  entitled “It Really Is As Simple As ABC: What Leaders Can Learn From Masterful Orators of The Past.” 

Change This, owned and operated by business book giant 800-CEO-Read and led by Dylan Schleicher, is changing the way business ideas are exchanged, and I am excited to join authors and thought leaders such as Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Tom Peters,  Seth Godin , Guy Kawasaki, and many others on this platform.

The manifesto is available for free, can be dowloaded here,  and is a quick read with implementable communication lessons for everyone.  It contains fundamental communication principles that can benefit anyone, whether a CEO commenting publicly or a call center employee answering a customer. 

If you have trouble accessing the document, please let me know and I will forward it to you.  Please forward it on to anyone who may benefit from it, and I would appreciate any feedback or commentary.  Thank you.

“How can I motivate my team when I speak?”

“How can you motivate your team more effectively?”

“How can I be more inspirational when I present?”

I am asked some semblance of these questions on a regular basis.  I see hundreds of motivational speeches every year.  Very few warrant a second look, even fewer a third. I have watched this speech over thirty times in the past week. The first 3:30 of this speech should be a staple in classrooms. 

This is not an orthodox speech.  The delivery would not work in the boardroom. Much of the presentation is raw and there are significant grammatical issues.  There are improvements that Eric can implement to be even more effective.  So what is this speech, and what does it have to do with motivating your team or any audience)? 

The speech is powerful, inspirational and memorable; and one of the best motivational speeches I have seen in some time.

There are lessons here that are applicable to presentations in any setting, and certainly usefull for speeches or presentations aimed at motivating your team, staff or audience:

1. Passion – If you are not convinced that Eric Thomas believes his message, watch again.  Passion comes barreling at you from the first ten seconds until the end.  It is difficult to move people without passion, and even more difficult to avoid being moved by someone as passionate as Eric;

2. Story – The story itself is riveting, and well timed. The story itself is no longer than a 30 second story; the delivery draws it out.  If you ever questioned the power of story in a speech, this should make you a believer.  A story does not have to be long to be effective;

3. Message - When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.  Everything Eric says relates back to his message;

4.  Audience – This presentation is perfectly geared toward capturing, and keeping, the target audience’s attention.  Know your audience and what the audience members will respond to;

5. Strategic Pause – Eric is emphatic and energetic throughout, and still effectively pauses before key lines;

6. Presence/Poise – There is no question who is center of the audience’s attention;

7. Rhetorical devices – Start with imagery, move to analogy, on to repetition and keep going;

8. Personalization - This speech is addressed to an audience, and at the same time the individual.  Very effective;

9. Tone/Intonation/Rhythm/Pitch Variety - This speech would be completely different without the vocal toolkit used;

10. Call to Action – Crystal clear.  A motivational speech should focus on….motivating to action!  This one does.

11. Body Language – I am not a believer that there are  rigid rules that apply to how to hold your hands, position yourself, etc. that work for every person presenting in every situation.   We are all individuals, and what works for nearly everyone else may not work for you – hence the need to determine what your presenting style is, and what works for you.  I have never witnessed a speech where I found pointing to be an asset – always the opposite – until watching this speech.  Pointing does not work for 99.9% of the speaking public – but in this situation, it works for Eric.  Learn what works for you – before you present.

12. Movement – Eric moves a lot, and is part of his audience throughout the presentation – no barriers – he is literally part of his audience.   Engaging your audience is crucial, and one of the best ways to engage is to get as close to your audience as possible.  Your presentation is a conversation, and the more you active you

Some backstory – Eric Thomas is a former high school dropout who is now a professor at Michigan State University, and is also the founder of The Advantage Program, an undergraduate retention program targeting academically high-risk students of color.

Do you need to motivate your team?  Contact us for more information.