http://marketingsource.com/articles/ Articles at marketingsource.com Articles Library en-us http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/the-proper-way-of-breathing-in-public-speaking.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/the-proper-way-of-breathing-in-public-speaking.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 08:55:10 -0500
There is a precise way of breathing during public speaking. Controlled breathing is very essential to a public speaker because it regulates all the air getting into your lungs which can avoid choking or indecipherable mumbling while delivering the speech. Common physical ailments that can plague a public speaker due to improper breathing are the drying of one’s mouth, frequent coughing, and also a painful sore throat. If your speaking sessions are not one-off events, then these ailments will affect future performances.

Sometimes, improper breathing can lead to unnecessary nervousness since an inexperienced speaker might rattle off his lines, while paying scant attention to his audiences’ reactions. Composed breathing will influence one’s mental and emotional state which will then allow you to speak coherently.

Before speaking, you can try to practice deep breathing exercises to ease any tension. All you have to do is to take in a deep breath until you feel that your lungs are completely filled with air. To initiate this exercise, you have to first stand straight and adopt a slightly upright posture. Next, pull your shoulders backward and push your chest forwards. Afterwards, stand with one foot slightly in front of the other (left or right) to gain some stability. Now, place your entire weight on your toes and simply relax your arms by your side. At this instance, breathe deeply while closing your mouth. Let the air fill up your lungs through the use of your nose. Complete this routine for several times because the objective here is to oxygenate your brain and calm your nerves. A little air can indeed do you wonders.

While speaking, abdominal breathing is definitely preferred. This is done by breathing from the depths of the diaphragm because this is considered the best way to breathe since the tendency of you running out of breath while speaking will be low and your speaking voice will not sound nasal and shallow.

Learning how to breathe properly is one of the most vital tips in public speaking. Improper breathing, which is often done subconsciously, can lead to an undesirable outcome in public speaking. Hence by mastering these simple and proven breathing techniques is the first step towards being effective in public speaking. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/the-importance-of-preparation-before-making-that-speech.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/the-importance-of-preparation-before-making-that-speech.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:48:32 -0500
Here are some tips in effective public speaking with regards to speech preparation.

Public speaking can be defined as a process of interacting with a crowd in an organized way. From this definition, it can be inferred that a speech should be prepared as much as possible in order to achieve an effective and organized speaking session. Through sufficient preparation, a positive outcome can be reached.

In order to be effective in public speaking, you must be prepared to combat anxiety so as to overcome it. Even professional public speakers encounter anxiety or fear. Their only difference is that they know how to overcome this undesirable feeling. Ample speech preparation helps to negate such nervousness.

Before making a speech, you should first research thoroughly on the information regarding your topic. Try to find information that can be easily relatable to your audience. You just need to be creative enough to fit your gathered information into a concise fashion and share them coherently with your audience. Also, the accuracy of your content is equally important as well. Out-of-date facts or figures would only damage your credibility.

In addition, your speech content will be useless if you cannot site any examples to further explain your key points. It is often said that if one is unable to explain something simply, one does not know it well enough. Remember to pare down your content into chewable bits for your audience. Do note that there are some audiences who may have difficulty in understanding a complex topic if examples or analogies are not presented. That’s why ‘check-back’ questions can be asked from time to time to gauge the receptiveness level of your audience.

The success of any speech is not only measured by its content but also on its delivery. It is absolutely crucial that preparation must be done in the area of delivery and style. No audience wants to listen to a boring speaker who behaves more like a ‘public reader’. Effective public speaking involves deciding on the approach on how to bring across your points to your audience. A funny, joke-laden presentation can work for some crowds but it may be a tad too casual or informal for others.

One of the best tips in public speaking is to perform dry runs in front of a mirror. By doing this, you will be able to observe any undesirable gestures that you may exhibit especially when anxiety gets the better of you. Be aware of these and make the necessary corrections so that no matter how you feel inside, the outer facade remains seemingly composed. A well-prepared speech helps a speaker cover all his bases. Effective public speaking can be achieved simply with proper preparation. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/simple-tips-to-be-an-effective-public-speaker.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/simple-tips-to-be-an-effective-public-speaker.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:23:39 -0500
While speaking to an audience, doubts may creep into your mind. These almost uncontrollable worries will sometimes ruin your speech and eventually cause you to lose your concentration and confidence at the most critical of moments. One of the questions that seem to frequent a speaker’s mind is that if your speech is making your audience feel bored. Honestly, no one wants to see a speaker fail on stage or behind a pulpit. It is the germination of such thoughts in one’s mind that often leads to a loss of confidence and eventually a forgettable speaking session. If you ever feel that your speech might be a tad too informative, do think of some ice breakers to lighten the mood. Ice breakers can also help you better engage your audiences and retain or increase their ‘waning’ interest in you.

Thus, confidence is the most important emotion for any public speaker. In order to be absolutely effective in public speaking, you must be able to visualize a positive outcome of the actual session and gear your mind towards that mental reality. By doing so, confidence can be built up gradually as your mind simply replays a rehearsed ‘success’ on the actual day of your presentation. Nerves will then be soothed and calmness may just ensue.

Another great way to induce confidence is to use humor in your speech. Delivering jokes helps to ease any tension and lighten the mood. However, please do not force yourself to deliver jokes. Sometimes pre-planned jokes can sound a little too scripted but even with scripted jokes, one must be able to deliver them as naturally as possible. Forced humor can be a little awkward at times. Minimizing such pressure inside you is one of the important tips in public speaking.

Our final tip here is on how to prevent a blank-out on stage. One method of ensuring that all parts of your speech remain intact in your memory is to simply imagine that you are telling a story to a group of close friends. It is definitely advisable not to memorize your speech word-for-word but instead seek to understand its essence and key points. Through thorough understanding of your speech, you will still be able to express yourself with different words but will also be able to retain the crucial points of the presentation. Semantic changes are sometimes unavoidable and as long your audiences understand your spoken words, you are in safe hands.

Hence, to be effective in public speaking, adhere to these proven tips in public speaking and in no time, you shall be the king of your own stage. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/public-speaking-tips-ways-to-deliver-a-speech-properly.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/public-speaking-tips-ways-to-deliver-a-speech-properly.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:50:54 -0500
Real Stories and Examples

To create a connection to your audience, it is better to start with some examples or real stories for them to connect with what you are discussing. A pure content-based discussion is boring, especially when the entire presentation consists of theories and assumptions. Again, it is best to relate every discussion to stories and examples so that it will be easy for the audience to picture what you want to portray. In fact, stories have the potential to increase the retention of your messages in your audience’s minds. There is another advantage in using real stories and examples when establishing a connection with your audience. Telling stories allows you to build rapport with audience members since you will be seen as someone who shares similar experiences with the everyday man.

Jokes

Another way to appeal to the audience is through the use of humor. Not everybody possesses this talent but it doesn’t mean that you would lose out to witty speakers. By using appropriate jokes to bring out certain key points in your speech can help anchor them stronger in the audience’s minds. Such ‘wit’ can be prepared beforehand and when the occasion arises, say the intended punchline timely for a desired effect. Humor also has the subtle ability in creating a friendly, amicable atmosphere that can help build a more approachable image in you as a speaker.

Audience Interaction

One of the best ways to assess how well a speaker is performing on stage is when the audience asks challenging questions. You, as the presenter, must be able to stay calm and answer the queries professionally. If some questions are valid but difficult to answer, you should let the audience know that you will have to return a reply as soon as you have the answer. This is a public speaking tip that can help enhance your standing as a true professional.

Public speaking is more than just standing in front of an audience and making a presentation. It is a lot of work and it needs preparation for it to be successful. The public speaking tips given above are frequent strategies used by successful public speakers to connect with their audience. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/overcoming-anxiety-to-be-an-effective-public-speaker.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/overcoming-anxiety-to-be-an-effective-public-speaker.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:20:07 -0500 tips in effective public speaking. These tips focus on the removal of a speaker’s anxiety so that calmness and composure will be all that’s felt when you take to the stage.

Firstly, there is nothing wrong if you feel nervous before, during and even after the speech. We are but mere human beings who may have the constant fear of failing in front of a crowd. In order to take that first step to overcome anxiety, just consider this unwanted feeling as a powerful motivation to make your speech the best every time you are required to deliver a presentation.

Make sure that you organize your speech in such a way that the audience can interact with you. The topics should connect with each other so that it would be easier for the audience to understand whatever you are talking about. It’s just like writing an article. You have to gather similar ideas and organize them in a concise manner. With a speech, ideas or thoughts need to be mentally structured before delivering them to the audience in a coherent fashion.

One of the important tips in public speaking is to visualize yourself delivering your speech. Try to practice delivering your speech in front of a large-sized mirror. Visualization is the technique which can help you to anchor a positive outcome in your mind. Once visualization exercises are repeated over and over again, the mind simply replays your ‘successes’ on your actual day of speaking. The more you rehearsed, the more you can overcome your anxiety.

It is also normal to make an error or two while delivering a speech, but you have to learn how to make it unnoticeable by your audience. Learn how to ad-lib whenever you commit an error. Ad-libs will help you to make your unexpected error be imperceptible. Also, to avoid frequent errors, review the copy of your speech. Understand it so that if you do need to skip a topic, you can insert another related topic without getting it noticed by your audience. People often memorize their speech word for word. This is a big no-no. Personally speaking, memorizing to me is the “lowest form of learning.” Learning to correct one’s errors will minimize unnecessary anxiety. Applying such simple techniques can help to ease some nerves.

Overcoming anxiety is considered as one of the most essential tips in public speaking. By defeating this emotional monster, anyone can be effective in public speaking. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/important-tips-in-public-speaking.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/important-tips-in-public-speaking.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:50:59 -0500
First of all, always be prepared before the making a presentation. Prepare a copy of your speech at least a week before the actual day (as much as possible). Preparing enough will save you from forgetting your lines. Also, do practice in front of a mirror. By doing this, you will able to observe any undesirable gestures that you might need to change or remove. In fact, a video camera would be even better, since it is able to record your practiced speech which you can send to friends for critique and feedback. However, do remember to encourage them to tell the truth. Often, due to ‘diplomatic’ reasons, friends tend to withhold negative comments. This would only harm the success of the actual speaking session. Similarly, don’t allow your friendship to hit the rocks as a result of their feedback. At the end of day, they are there to help and sometimes you would rather have a ‘Simon Cowell’ than a ‘Paula Abdul’, if you know what I mean. These friends can be great mimics of real audiences so do respect their opinions like how you will respect the opinions of your real audiences.

Another vital tip in public speaking is to always be positive. Never allow negative thoughts to germinate in your mind. As long as these thoughts get a foothold of your psyche, then negative outcomes will definitely follow. Strong visualization of positive outcomes would be more helpful in increasing confidence and stage courage.

Physical exercises like performing vocal warm up before one’s speech is also a good tip to take note of. In fact, daily brisk walking or jogging can help in the minimization of public speaking tension. These exercises relaxes one’s muscles and improves blood flow. With continuous, uninterrupted flow of the blood, your mind will be oxygenated sufficiently which helps ensure mental clarity as you speak. With an alert mind, stage fright can be negated since key points are remembered and the tendency of fluffing lines can be a thing of the past.

Finally, always see to it that eye contact is consistently being made between you and your audience. You must remember that public speaking is merely an act of conversing with multiple individuals. No one likes to be spoken without being looked at. By giving eye contact can also help in giving the positive impression to your audiences that you are confident and in control of the session.

These tips in public speaking are only mere drops in the ocean. Many proven techniques exist in many books or websites. Thus, in order to be effective in public speaking, research more on this important life skill and you shall rise faster and higher to the upper echelons of society. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/best-practices/how-to-overcome-fear-in-public-speaking.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/best-practices/how-to-overcome-fear-in-public-speaking.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 04:17:22 -0500
Whoa! Imagine how this could just happen to you. However don’t worry; here are some valuable tips in public speaking to help you to be effective in the art of speaking to an audience. These tips will surely save you from such frightening situations.

Before delivering your speech, take a deep breath. Let oxygen fill your lungs to normalize the functions of your mind and heart. Also, this will help your body to release sufficient adrenalin to help you overcome your fear while standing and speaking in front of the crowd. Shallow breathing will lead your speaking voice to sound as if it is “lacking air”. Deep breathing will also help you to gather enough oxygen to generate a louder voice while delivering the speech. Always see to it that your voice comes from the diaphragm and not from the throat. When you let your speaking voice come from your throat, it will only cause a sore throat and no speaker will ever like that. The voice that is emitted from the diaphragm generates a solid, sonorous speaking voice which makes your voice pleasant to the ears. This will also help you score additional brownie points with your audience.

Another important tip in public speaking is to have a good posture. A good posture involves a straight back and an erect chest. With such a posture, adequate voice projection would definitely be achieved as well. Also, don’t forget to smile. A positive and pleasant disposition allows your audience to reciprocate your eye contact and listen to every word that you utter. These physical techniques can help to keep a speaker’s nerves stable and unperturbed. Another good tip to note is the art of gesturing. An effective speaker uses hand gestures to make their speech come alive but one should not overdo this. Simply let your hands move a bit to emphasize the key points of your speech but as much as possible, try to minimize stage movement. In the eyes of the audience, unnecessary body movements are quite annoying. One way to determine whether you make too many body movements is to try talking to yourself in front of a mirror. Once you sense even an ounce of disinterest in your audience, fear might start to rear its ugly head within you.

Lastly, always be prepared before delivering your speech. Preparedness can help to calm nerves. As ridiculous as it sounds, public speaking is akin to going to war. If you are to enter a battlefield without weapons, you’ll only get yourself pulverized by the enemy. Memorize the key points in your speech if possible and practice speaking before taking to the stage. This will save you from embarrassing ‘forget-my-lines’ moments.

To be effective in public speaking is easy. All you have to do is follow these proven tips. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/effective-public-speaking-a%2580-how-would-you-deliver-your-speech-persuasively.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/effective-public-speaking-a%2580-how-would-you-deliver-your-speech-persuasively.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:50:39 -0500
Effective public speaking contains 3 components that are presented logically in order to connect with the audience, let them understand what your speech is and allow them to react to it.

1st Component

The first component is where the gist of your speech lies. Important points in your speech can be presented in any manner as long as it answers three questions:

a.Why – The answer to this comprises the entirety of your speech. It can be summarized in one sentence which serves as a guide for you to stay on the same conversation and not going out of line. Information that you share with your audience is within your summarized sentence.
b.What – This is where the content of your speech belongs. You need to determine and list some points that you want to discuss during your presentation. As a helpful tip, know the amount of time intended for you to stay on the stage. After this, plan the points that you want to tackle. It is already a rule that you need to list points that would cover less than the given time.
c.How – Answers to this correspond to the steps on how you will deliver your speech in a way that it will be appealing to your audience. You should take this seriously because no matter how good your prepared speech is, if not presented well, will not be successful. In presenting your speech, you need to start with the Prologue, Body and Conclusion (this is the speech structure widely used by speakers)

2nd Component

The second component for effective public speaking is also known as the “showbiz” or entertainment part. I bet you won’t like a speaker reading or speaking the entire 60 minutes with a monotonous voice, right? How about if during the presentation, the speaker keeps on reading his notes?

The first thing in delivering your speech is to move around rather than to stay in one place. It can help you distinguish if your audience is listening to you because if they are listening, their eyes will follow wherever you move.

Next, is to have an eye contact with your audience. As reluctant as you may be, giving eye contact to your audience is the best thing you should do. Connect with your audience through eye contact in order for them to see your expressions and feel your speech material.

3rd Component

The third component is the emotional part of the speech. The other two components are useless without this. You can deliver your speech using the two others but you can’t leave a mark on your audience’s minds or even hearts with the absence of the third component. Let them feel what you want them to feel in order for them to fully understand what you want to convey in your messages.

Effective public speaking depends greatly on the mentioned components. Practice them regularly and the results will definitely be delivered. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/dos-and-dona%2580%2599ts-of-public-speaking.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/public-speaking/dos-and-dona%2580%2599ts-of-public-speaking.html Tue, 12 Apr 2011 03:09:50 -0500 The success of your speech depends greatly on thorough rehearsal before the actual day. Rehearsing will help to minimize the nervousness and pressure that a speaker would experience. It is very noticeable if the speaker didn’t rehearse and prepare for his or her speech. An unprepared speaker often stutters and forgets his or her lines (sometimes the vital ones). Forgetting one’s speech content induces confusion among the audiences and eventually they will be uninterested in listening to you. Frequent forgetfulness is a sign that you don’t have any idea on the topic you are delivering. Thus, it is very important to rehearse before giving your speech.
It is not advisable to have changes on your speech just before the actual delivery (less than 24 hours). This is applicable to those speakers who rehearsed their speeches days or even weeks beforehand. If you plan to make any changes, do it earlier to prepare yourself both mentally and emotionally.
Also, prepare a decent outfit for yourself to wear on the day of your speech. The audience doesn’t want an awful-looking speaker or otherwise, they will not waste their time listening to you. Always remember to wear clothes that fit your environment and audience profile.
Remember to eat enough before your speech. You can then be able to think clearly and can be more effective. Also, a filled stomach restores your energy levels and increases your eagerness in delivering the presentation. A hungry speaker often leads to a boring and dispassionate speech, and no one likes that.
If you plan to have visual aids like PowerPoint presentations or visual demonstrations, refrain from reading strictly from them. Remember you are not talking to your visual aids; you are talking to your audience. By becoming a ‘public reader’ would only indicate that you are not prepared in speech preparation. It is also annoying to listen to a speaker who doesn’t give ample eye contact to his or her audience.
One of the most important tips in public speaking is to prepare an index card which contains the topics that you are about to deliver written on it. These handy notes serve as useful reminders so that the content remains fresh in a speaker’s memory. However, do remember that these notes are not excuses for not preparing for one’s speech. These are helpful and practical tips in public speaking. Successful speakers have followed these simple techniques which have made them effective in public speaking. ]]> http://marketingsource.com/articles/book-promotions/business/what-does-not-matter-in-seo-and-could-be-wasting-you-money-or-even-hurting-your-site.html http://marketingsource.com/articles/book-promotions/business/what-does-not-matter-in-seo-and-could-be-wasting-you-money-or-even-hurting-your-site.html Fri, 02 Jul 2010 08:20:41 -0500 The very important topic of this article is: “Relevancy.” When I say relevancy, I mean in relation to where you place your backlinks. For example, are the sites where you place your backlinks in the same niche as your site? Let me explain to you with LOGIC how relevance makes absolutely no difference to how Google ranks your site.
First off, there is no evidence to support this claim. Extensive testing has been done on sites where relevance was completely ignored and it made no difference as to whether the site was ranked on the first page.
Another logical explanation to this is that there is no way Google can determine whether one site is relevant to another. Leslie Rhode, the mad SEO scientist from StomperNet, explains that there are simply too many synonyms and various meanings of words in the English language, creating too many possible combinations for computers to determine if sites are in the same niche. If you think about it, this makes a lot of sense.
Additionally, a great percentage of sites on the net are not focused on just one niche. For example, a news site or a bookmarking site might have categories for articles of every niche under the sun. So if you get a link from CNN (PR10) and your site is in weight loss, is it reasonable to assume the link will not be worth as much because CNN is in the “news” niche and your site is in the “weight loss” niche? Wouldn’t that be a mistake on the search engine’s part (if they were to mark it as not matching in relevance and give it less power) considering that CNN reports on “weight loss news” all the time?
So my point is, if you’re in the weight loss niche and you’re only trying to get links from other sites in the same niche, you’re wasting your time and money.
Additionally, you may actually be hurting your site by not diversifying the source of your backlinks enough. For example, if you’re in the adult entertainment niche, how many .edu and .gov backlinks are you going to be able to get in that niche? Not very many, I presume. So my advice is to drop this notion that relevance of the sites where you place backlinks matters AT ALL – because it doesn’t. Work on getting as much diversity to your links as possible for your best chance of success in SEO. ]]>