Public Speaking (Speaking with confidence) Part-II

Now, since you know basics of public speaking with our section Public Speaking (Speaking with confidence) Part-I, this is the time to master them 

with advanced ways.

·  Research a topic – Good speakers stick to what they know. Great speakers research what they need to convey their message.

·  Focus – Help your audience grasp your message by focusing on your message. Stories, humour, or other “sidebars” should connect to the core idea. Anything that doesn’t needs to be edited out.

·  Organize ideas logically – A well-organized presentation can be absorbed with minimal mental strain. Bridging is key.

·  Employ quotations, facts, and statistics – Don’t include these for the sake of including them, but do use them appropriately to complement your ideas.

·  Master metaphors & idioms – Metaphors enhance the understandability of the message in a way that direct language often can not.

·  Tell a story – Everyone loves a story. Points wrapped up in a story are more memorable, too!

·  Start strong and close stronger – The body of your presentation should be strong too, but your audience will remember your first and last words (if, indeed, they remember anything at all).

·  Incorporate humour – Knowing when to use humour is essential. So is developing the comedic timing to deliver it with greatest effect.

·  Vary vocal pace, tone, and volume – A monotone voice is like fingernails on the chalkboard.

Remember that not all public speaking will be scheduled. You can make good impromptu speeches by having ideas and mini-speeches pre-prepared. It also helps to have a good, thorough understanding of what's going on in your organization and industry.

·  Punctuate words with gestures – Gestures should complement your words in harmony. Tell them how big the fish was, and show them with your arms. Look at this video to understand properly. She is the iron lady "Kiran Bedi", the legend. This video may shake you very hard to drop your weakness and give you fresh air of confidence.

·  Utilize 3-dimensional space – Chaining yourself to the lectern limits the energy and passion you can exhibit. Lose the notes, and lose the chain.

·  Complement words with visual aids – Visual aids should aid the message; they should not be the message.

·  Analyze your audience – Deliver the message they want (or need) to hear.

·  Connect with the audience – Eye contact is only the first step. Aim to have the audience conclude “This speaker is just like me!” The sooner, the better.

                                     Do not fear to face people. They are just like me & you. 

·  Interact with the audience – Ask questions (and care about the answers). Solicit volunteers. Make your presentation a dialogue. Also, pay attention to how you're speaking. If you're nervous, you might talk quickly. This increases the chances that you'll trip over your words, or say something you don't mean. Force yourself to slow down by breathing deeply. Don't be afraid to gather your thoughts; pauses are an important part of conversation, and they make you sound confident, natural, and authentic.

·  Listen critically and analyze other speakers – Study the strengths and weakness of other speakers.

·  Act and speak ethically – Since public speaking fears are so common, realize the tremendous power of influence that you hold. Use this power responsibly. When we have to speak in front of others, we can envision terrible things happening. We imagine forgetting every point we want to make, passing out from our nervousness, or doing so horribly that we'll lose our job. But those things almost never come to pass! We build them up in our minds and end up more nervous than we need to be. Have a look at this video for getting the insight of the above mentioned point.

·  Obey time constraints – Maybe you have 2 minutes. Maybe you have 45. Either way, customize your presentation to fit the time allowed, and respect your audience by not going over time.

·  Be coherent when speaking off the cuff – Impromptu speaking (before, after, or during a presentation) leaves a lasting impression too. Doing it well tells the audience that you are personable, and that you are an expert who knows their stuff beyond the slides and prepared speech.

·  Seek and utilize feedback – Understand that no presentation or presenter (yes, even you!) is perfect. Aim for continuous improvement, and understand that the best way to improve is to solicit candid feedback from as many people as you can.

·  Conduct a Q&A session – Not every speaking opportunity affords a Q&A session, but understand how to lead one productively. Use the Q&A to solidify the impression that you are an expert, not (just) a speaker.

·  Lead a discussion – Again, not every speaking opportunity affords time for a discussion, but know how to engage the audience productively.

·  Handle unexpected issues smoothly – Maybe the lights will go out. Maybe the projector is dead. Have a plan to handle every situation.

· Master the art of telling stories. Own the stories you tell by using your real personal experience to bring life to the material you are delivering. These stories make you a real human, and animation can add color to them.

·  Use technology to sustain your momentum as a speaker but not vice versa. Your power point slides, if you are using one for your presentation, should contain visual graphics and not long sentences. Speak to your crowd and not your presentation. Look at this video and try to focus on the way the speaker has presented his ideas.

·  Focus on bringing the positive thoughts to your words and not on how you are doing as a speaker. Enjoying your speech helps you deliver a compelling message.

Now have a look at the masters in public speaking. These videos are a real boon to suit the people from every walk of life.  I personally suggest you to go through most of them as per your taste or according to your choice of favourite speaker.

Public Speaking (Speaking with confidence) Part-I

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If you've got a speech or presentation in your future, start looking for what makes successful public speakers so successful. Note their styles and habits and keep them in mind as good examples. Whether we're talking in a team meeting or presenting in front of an audience, we all have to speak in public from time to time. 

Good public speaking skills are important in other areas of your life, as well. You might be asked to make a speech at a friend's wedding, give a eulogy for a loved one, or inspire a group of volunteers at a charity event. We can do this well or we can do this badly, and the outcome strongly affects the way that people think about us. This is why public speaking causes so much anxiety and concern. 


Following is a very intensive list of tips to improve your speech quality, confidence and skills to master public speaking.

· Channel/observe a speaker or teacher you really respect. What do they do well? Ask if you can observe them at future events/meetings (if they live locally) – or look for more examples and videos .Bookmark the speeches/speakers you most want to emulate.

· Pretend you are speaking to a non-native English speaker or a five year old. Does your pacing change? Another trick I use: pretend you are on The Today show, or speaking for the president, or some other super important thing with high visibility. How would you talk? How do you want to sound or come across?

· Make it a challenge for yourself to bring more awareness to your speech in every day interactions. Sometimes even when I’m talking with friends I will practice not saying “um” and other speech quirks that come across as unprofessional. Even though these are low-stakes situations, it helps me change my default speech to something that works in any setting.

·  Craft an introduction – Set the context and make sure the audience is ready to go, whether the introduction is for you or for someone else.

·  Exhibit confidence and poise – These qualities are sometimes difficult for a speaker to attain, but easy for an audience to sense.

 . Pay attention to your grammar & diction - This may sound a bit silly but your grammatical errors may lead to a funny situation. Pay extra attention to fix any holes, if there are any. Use our collection of Idioms for daily use , Vocabulary, prepositions and other contents.

Tongue Twisters

                    Tongue

        Twisters

Tongue

               Twisters

                          Tongue

 Twisters
  
"We are not perfect"
It is as simple as that. The worst case scenario is when this imperfection becomes 
obvious without any cause. We want to speak but feel tongue-tied. We want to participate in group discussions, meetings and talks but find ourselves unable to open mouth. There may be several reasons behind it.Sometimes attitude, sometimes hesitation and sometimes no reason at all. In order to tackle this problem, tongue twisters can play a vital role. Here is the list of some of them. I personally advise you to practice as many of them as possible.

 ·       They have left the thrift shop, and lost both their theatre tickets and the volume of valuable licenses and coupons for free theatrical frills and thrills.

·        I thought a thought, but the thought that I thought wasn’t the thought that I thought I thought.

·        If it was the thought that I thought I thought then I wouldn’t have thought so much,

·        Thank the other three brothers of their father’s mother’s brother’s side.

·        The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.

·        Thirty-three thousand people think that Thursday is their thirtieth birthday.

·        She sells seashells on the seashore.

·        Betsy butcher bought a better butter.

·        The vines in the village are very vast.

·        Veronica’s voice has variety and vitality.

·        Stephen is a very valuable weaver.

·        The vitamins in vegetables are marvelous.

·        Leave the lovely vase in the van.

·        William’s woolens are wonderfully warm.

·        Which watch will you wear to the wedding?

·        We were waiting at the railway station.

·        Wendy works in the warehouse on Wednesdays.

·        Walking is a wonderful way to lose weight.

·        White Whales wade through the waves in the winter wind.

·        Why made, whales? Why whales why?? 

·        Swam swam over the sea, swim swam swim.

·        Swam swam back again, well swam swan!

·        She Sells sea shells by the sea shore; but the sea shells

·        That she sells by the seashore are not real seashells.

·        The vines in the village are very vast.

·        Veronica’s voice have variety and vitality.

·        Stephen is a very valuable weaver.

·        The vitamins in vegetables are marvelous.

·        Leave the lovely vase in the van

Vocabulary (Part-III) Advanced

Personality Adjectives:




Many times, you may be out of words when it comes to define a person's personality traits. Hence, there is always a need to boost your vocabulary. The problem with our vocab is not short-term. Being humans, we tend to forget things easily. That's where our blog comes in the scene. We are committed to provide you with quality guidance. Here, I have prepared a comprehensive list of personality adjectives. You need to associate them with some particular characters and you will never have to learn them again. This is one of the best ways to keep them in your mind forever.

Set:1

Happy grateful determined professional swell helpful sincere authentic focused
extraordinary delightful imaginative reverent successful heroic cheerful inventive unique upright tidy open-minded blissful tough glad reposed desirable valiant

Set:2

Fair-minded modest ingenious solid courageous profound adaptable worthy colorful joyful laudable cute delectable dependable remarkable confident forbearing funny ready lenient magnetic enlightened authoritative enterprising righteous luminous exact cognizant ecstatic lovely entertaining inspired

Set:3

Decent helpful pragmatic witty convincing beautiful resplendent simple assured
competent progressive comedic felicitous accessible commendable sensual sublime sympathetic compatible discrete influential efficient humorous engaging civil merciful believable gentle lucky knowledgeable serene earnest adroit faithful exultant  hospitable gleeful sparkling cordial soulful appreciative spontaneous fascinating

Set:4

Brilliant impartial constant natural keen merry eloquent sensible comfortable relaxed soft-spoken casual loyal stable alive charming receptive good looking good mannered shrewd liberal grounded truthful gorgeous practical industrious brave perfect hardy innocent  upright enchanted athletic noble diligent gregarious responsive precious satisfied deep cozy law-abiding agile restrained healthy just creative gentile meritorious learned right approachable harmonious benevolent lucid conciliatory even-tempered nice fun bold rich accommodating tender fantastic jolly 

Set:5

Whimsical defined immaculate diplomatic bright chatty mild proper vigorous wonderful alluring companionable reflective credible punctual elated impressive playful intelligent superb original devoted pleasant warm powerful convulsive fabulous gracious altruistic affirmative direct goodhearted chaste wise philanthropic robust convivial consistent dedicated persuasive amazing calm nimble desirable good studious neighborly confident decisive subtle personable peaceful brainy stylish hopeful big-hearted affable excellent chic intuitive heedful courteous disarming caring fine logical tranquil virtuous attentive  

 

Communication Skills- Group Discussion

Group Discussions are key to a productive influx of new ideas and enhancement of mutual cooperation to bring up a more holistic output relevant to the context, stimulating thinking skills of all those part of the group, and thus blending the final innovation into a worthy project juxtaposed with credibility.
 

A group discussion consists of :

- Communication Skills
- Knowledge and ideas regarding a given subject
- Capability to co-ordinate and lead
- Exchange of thoughts
- Addressing the group as a whole
- Thorough preparations

The Group Discussion is essentially used as pointer to assess a student in the following areas:
- Communication skills
- Clarity of thought
- Inter-personal behavior
- Ability to work in a team
- Reasoning ability
- Leadership skills
- Initiative
- Assertiveness
- Flexibility
- Creativity
- Ability to think on ones feet

Reasons for having GD

- It helps you to understand a subject more deeply.
- It improves your ability to think critically.
- It helps in solving a particular problem.
- It helps the group to make a particular decision.
- It gives you the chance to hear other students’ ideas.
- It improves your listening skills.
- It increases your confidence in speaking.
- It can change your attitudes.

Remember the DOs & DONT’s before attending any GD. They can really save you at times!!

Be as natural as possible. Do not try and be someone you are not. Be yourself.
A group discussion is your chance to be more vocal. The evaluator wants to hear you speak. Take time to organize your thoughts. Think of what you are going to say. Seek clarification if you have any doubts regarding the subject. Don’t start speaking until you have clearly understood and analyzed the subject.

Work out various strategies to help you make an entry: initiate the discussion or agree with someone else’s point and then move onto express your views. Opening the discussion is not the only way of gaining attention and recognition. If you do not give valuable insights during the discussion, all your efforts of initiating the discussion will be in vain.

Your body language says a lot about you - your gestures and mannerisms are more likely to reflect your attitude than what you say.

Language skills are important only to the effect as to how you get your points across clearly and fluently.

Be assertive not dominating; try to maintain a balanced tone in your discussion and analysis. Don’t lose your cool if anyone says anything you object to. The key is to stay objective: Don’t take the discussion personally. Always be polite: Try to avoid using extreme phrases like: `I strongly object’ or `I disagree’. Instead try phrases like: `I would like to share my views on…’ or `One difference between your point and mine…’ or “I beg to differ with you” Brush up on your leadership skills; motivate the other members of the team to speak (this surely does not mean that the only thing that you do in the GD is to say “let us hear what the young lady with the blue scarf has to say,” or “Raman, let us hear your views” - Essentially be subtle), and listen to their views. Be receptive to others’ opinions and do not be abrasive or aggressive. If you have a group of like-minded friends, you can have a mock group discussion where you can learn from each other through giving and receiving feedback.

Apart from the above points, the panel will also judge team members for their alertness and presence of mind, problem-solving abilities, ability to work as a team without alienating certain members, and creativity. Some other Dos are:

• Knowledge is strength. A candidate with good reading habits has more chances of success. In other words, sound knowledge on different topics like politics, finance, economy, science and technology is helpful.

• Power to convince effectively is another quality that makes you stand out among others.

• Clarity in speech and expression is yet another essential quality.

• If you are not sure about the topic of discussion, it is better not to initiate. Lack of knowledge or wrong approach creates a bad impression. Instead, you might adopt the wait and watch attitude. Listen attentively to others, may be you would be able to come up with a point or two later.

• A GD is a formal occasion where slang is to avoided.

• A GD is not a debating stage. Participants should confine themselves to expressing their viewpoints. In the second part of the discussion candidates can exercise their choice in agreeing, disagreeing or remaining neutral.

• Language use should be simple, direct and straight forward.

• Don’t interrupt a speaker when the session is on. Try to score by increasing your size, not by cutting others short.

• Maintain rapport with fellow participants. Eye contact plays a major role. Non-verbal gestures, such as listening intently or nodding while appreciating someone’s viewpoint speak of you positively.

• Communicate with each and every candidate present. While speaking don’t keep looking at a single member. Address the entire group in such a way that everyone feels you are speaking to him or her.

There has been enough material on the subject - ‘What to do in a GD?’ Its now time for a few don’ts. And as a matter of fact, it’s more important to remember don’ts rather than do’s.

- Do not get into arguments with people, remember you are there to make effective points, do not waste time on futile arguments that do not contribute to the topic under discussion.

- Making yourself heard is important but do not try to hog the lime-light all the time, evaluate the worth of what you are saying, or you may simply make points that are irrelevant or were better left unsaid.

- Do not act patronizing with your fellow group members, it could backfire.

- Do not make use of gestures excessively as you may come across as aggressive, learn to toe the line between assertive and aggressive.

- Do not slouch but seat yourself comfortably, awkward posture could indicate nervousness or discomfort with your position in the group.

- Most of all, belief in your own ability to remain poised in any situation will allow you to sail through.

- Do not fidget or act restless.

- Do not stare at the floor or out of the window, you may come across as uninterested or inattentive.

- Try not to look at the Panel members during the discussion.

 However, in order to cater to the needs of a particular group, it is highly imperative that the designs and patterns of groups be in coherence with the typical composition of the group thus, catalyzing the overall progress. Too complicated to understand? In simple words: Groups need to be arranged such that the members of that particular group well adapt to its structure and acquire an encouraging environment to think, communicate, share, learn, participate &  interact with others- all of which are essential components of any sort of education or critical analysis.

Good Luck!!!