Fearless Presentations

This week, I'm going to cover a simple three-step process to help you design a persuasive presentation . Most persuasive speech techniques -- especially the ones that are taught in high school and often at the university level, actually make people want to play devil's advocate and even argue with the presenter.  So in the session, I'm going to give you a time-tested technique that...

This week, I interview Kelsey Greenwood who is a professional speaker and consultant who just wrote a fascinating paper on five simple ways to overcome stage fright. If you are experiencing nervousness when you stand up to present, these tips can help you easily reduce that nervousness. The first couple are both mental things that you can do to prepare yourself before you speak, and the last three...

Imposter syndrome is a term used to describe the feeling of inadequacy, self-doubt, and lack of confidence that many people experience in their professional or personal lives. It is the feeling that you are a fraud, that you are not good enough, and that your accomplishments are simply the result of luck or circumstance rather than your own abilities. The good news is that while imposter syndrome...

Doug Staneart — President and CEO of The Leader’s Institute ® and Creator of the Fearless Presentations ® Public Speaking Training Programs . Last week I began a two-part series on the step-by-step process that I went through to overcome public speaking fear. I covered the first four life lessons that helped me get there. Most of the tips in the last session were things that I learned early in lif...

Doug Staneart — President and CEO of The Leader’s Institute ® and Creator of the Fearless Presentations ® Public Speaking Training Programs . My public speaking class members often ask me questions like, “Do you still get nervous when you speak?” “How did you become a professional speaker?” And the most common, “You were a nervous speaker… How did you overcome your public speaking fear?” The answe...

A few weeks ago, I gave you a few of my favorite ways to start a presentation. Then, for the last few weeks, we have covered several ways to make presentations more interesting. This week, I give you a few of my favorite ways to end your presentation with a bang. You want to make the last thing that you do or so in your presentation memorable so that the audience leaves the room seeing you as a qu...

Storytelling in Speeches-The Easiest Way to Reduce Nervousness During a Speech Feel nervous about speaking in public? Tell a personal story in your speech (early), and you can reduce public speaking fear dramatically. One of the first public speaking secrets that we share in our public speaking training classes is that stories are your friend. When you tell a story, you reduce presentation jitters...

The 5 Steps of Storytelling During a Presentation. Follow these Tips to Become a Better Storyteller. In this episode, we cover the Five Steps of Storytelling that we have identified in our presentation skills class . These best practices will help you organize your stories better. Remember that audience members have a short attention span. Good storytelling, though, can help you capture and hold t...

Looking for how to write a speech in a few simple steps? Over the last 20 years, our instructors have dissected thousands of speeches. In that time, we’ve been able to identify simple things that can easily make or break a presentation. We’ve assembled a simple, step-by-step process that explains how to write a speech quickly and easily. In fact, once you understand the concepts below, you can use...

One of the more challenging parts of any presentation is the very first part. If you are wondering how to introduce yourself before starting your presentation, you are in good company. For most of us, once we get the first few sentences out, our nervousness will diminish pretty significantly. So, this initial self-introduction is really important. If we struggle here, our nervousness will increase...

This is part two of a two-part episode on how to start a presentation. Looking for a few ways to start a presentation that are dynamic? The opening is really the most important part of your presentation. You want to make a good first impression. In addition, you also want the audience to see you as a subject matter expert. Last week, we covered three ways to start a presentation to help your audie...

Looking for a few ways to start a presentation that are dynamic? The opening is really the most important part of your presentation. You want to make a good first impression. In addition, you also want the audience to see you as a subject matter expert. Of course, we’ve all been there as a speaker. First, we design a powerful presentation. Then, we nervously walk out onto a stage or into the front...

In this session, I’m going to cover 10 simple ways to overcome the fear of public speaking. This is a continuation of the 3-step process to eliminate public speaking fear . In that episode, I showed you the process that a nervous speaker should go through to reduce speech anxiety. As a review, the first step is to find out where the fear of public speaking comes from . Then, do a few simple things...

Happy Thanksgiving. And for those of you outside of the United States, happy third week of November. I wanted to take a break from the normal public speaking tips and share with you this week one of Abraham Lincoln's least quoted speeches but the one that has a significant impact on US citizens every November, his Thanksgiving proclamation that created the holiday. Where did the Thanksgiving...

When folks ask me what I do for a living, I answer, “I help people eliminate public speaking fear .” It is always fun to watch the looks on their faces when they process what I said. Inevitably, I will typically get a response like, “You do what?” or “How do you do that?” The process is really simple. In fact, anyone can reduce public speaking anxiety if they follow this process. Over the last 20...

This week, I'm going to cover how to make that mental shift to where you begin to see yourself as the expert when you present. Just so you know, one of the major sources of nervousness and fear comes from people standing up to speak and fearing that the audience is going to figure out that they are not the real expert or that they are not as much of an expert as their boss or coworkers or oth...

I was shocked at the huge list of dumb exercises to improve presentation skills on the internet. When I say “dumb,” I mean don’t try those tips. They will not work. In fact, they will likely make you even more nervous. So in this episode, I’m going to dispel some of the worst exercises and give you a few really simple things that you can do to become a better public speaker. So get rid of the tong...

Want to calm down before a presentation? Even if you don’t regularly experience the fear of public speaking, just before you start a speech, it is easy to feel anxious. This initial nervous energy can cause a speaker to have a shaky voice, dry mouth, or sweaty palms just before a presentation. The good news is that this experience is very common. Most of the time, if you start your presentation we...

Are you a nervous public speaker? A majority of the population has some type of fear of public speaking. Ironically, a great deal of this nervousness or anxiety comes from well-meaning friends or coworkers who are just trying to help. When we see a friend struggling, we naturally want to help. So, we might offer a little constructive criticism as a way to help a new presenter improve his/her publi...

This week, I'm going to show you how you can make your audiences pay attention to your entire speech. If you use this strategy, you'll get the audience on your side right away and avoid situations where the audience tries to test you or put you on the spot. The strategy will also save you a TON of time and make delivering your presentation much easier as well. Make Your Presentation Audi...

This week, I'm going to show you how you can begin to develop your public speaking skills in low-risk public speaking venues. These are the tips I give to people after they come through my presentation classes if they want more practice. As I give you these venues, though, I have organized them in a step-by-step process. For instance, last week, I gave you a list of online venues that I order...

I often get a common question after people attend our 2-day presentation class . “Now that I feel more confident, where do I go to practice to continue to get better as a speaker?” “How can I continue to grow as a great speaker?” The best way to continue to grow is with continued and consistent use of your presentation skills. If you take a public speaking class and then don’t present again for a...

Congratulations! You’ve been invited to give a TED talk. This non-profit talk series is the gold standard of speeches, so you should be honored to be on the event’s roster. Not to mention how great it will look on your resume and website. You’ve undoubtedly been chosen because you’re an expert in your field, be it medicine, literature, pop culture, gerontology, or careers, but it’s not the topic t...

It is a great honor for me to have Grant Baldwin of The Speaker Lab on the show today. Grant helps people break into the professional speaking industry and shows them how to find clients and get paid when they speak. Grant founded The Speaker Lab years ago and is also the host of The Speaker Lab podcast. His specialty is helping presenters create speeches that help their audiences solve problems....

This special holiday episode is a continuation of our holiday series on great speeches in American history.  What better way to honor and celebrate the holiday than by critiquing one of the greatest, well-known speeches? Before we begin analyzing The Gettsyburg Address, let’s dive into the history and math to put it into context. David Wills invited Abraham Lincoln to give this speech as a way to...