How to Master Public Speaking in American Business

It is consequently of some relevance to individuals who engage in this volume with open mind that they should know clearly at the out-start what is the notion that at once underpins and is built through this structure. Simply said, public speaking training is not a question of externals; rather, it is not a matter of imitation; essentially, it is not a subject of compliance to norms at all. Public speaking is public utterance, public issuing, of the man himself; so, the first thing both in time and in significance is that the man should be and think and feel things that are worthy of being put forth. Unless there is anything of worth inside, no training technique can ever make the talker anything more than a machine—albeit a highly perfected machine—for the conveyance of other men's commodities. Thus, our plan revolves on self-development as absolutely essential. Sometimes blacksmiths twist a rope tightly around a horse's snout to cause some discomfort, therefore diverting his focus from the shoeing technique. Pouring water into a glass will help to release air from it. in viewing from a train window that other horses feed near the track and never even pause to look up at the booming cars

The second principle is closely related

To the first: the man must enthrone his will to rule over his thought, his affections, and all his physical capacities so that the outer self may provide flawless, unhampered expression to the inner. Laying down systems of norms for voice culture, intonation, gesture, and what not is useless, we say until these two principles of having something to say and making the will sovereign have at least began to feel in the life. The third principle will, we hope, cause little controversy as none of anybody can learn how to communicate who does not first speak as best he can. Though it sounds like a vicious circle in words, it will be interesting. Many professors start with the how. Try valiantly. We learn to do by doing; it is an old fact. Speaking—not studying voice and gesture and the rest—is the first thing a novice in public speaking has to do. Once he has talked, he can grow by self-observation or in line with the criticism directed on others. How, though, will he be able to criticize himself? Just learning three things will help: By what ways at least some of these qualities may be learned; what bad habits of speaking in himself work against his gaining and employing the traits he thinks to be good By common accord, what are the qualities which go to make up an effective speaker concerned by self-consciousness at the start of a talk, Gladstone was Before speaking in public, Beecher was usually unsettled.

Experience then is the first and the last

As well as the best teacher. Experience must, however, be a two-edged tool; the experience of others must be used to augment, correct, and justify our own experience; in this way we shall become our own best critics only after we have trained ourselves in self-knowledge, the knowledge of what other minds think, and in the ability to judge ourselves by the standards we have come to believe are right. "If I ought," remarked Kant, "I can." Examining the contents of this volume will reveal how consistently these articles of faith have been affirmed, expanded upon, and demonstrated. The pupil is advised to start talking immediately using what he understands. Then he receives basic advice on self-control, with progressively more focus on the ability of the inner man to rule the outer. The path to the rich storehouses of material is then underlined. And last, all the while he is exhorted to talk, speak, talk as he applies to his own ways, in his own particular way, the principles he has gained from his own experience and observation and the documented experiences of others. Now, let it be as clear as light that methods are secondary matters; that the full mind, the warm heart, the dominant will are primary—and not only primary but paramount; for unless it be a full life that uses the methods it will be like dressing a wooden image in the clothes of a man.Public speaking students ask constantly, "How can I overcome self-consciousness and the fear that paralyzes me before an audience While just ahead at the next railroad crossing a farmer's wife will be frantically trying to calm her terrified horse as the train passes, did you ever notice.

How would you drive or pasture a horse

That is terrified of cars Graze him in a back-woods lot where he would never see steam-engines or vehicles, or drive him where he would regularly see the machinery Apply horse-sense to overcome fear and self-consciousness: confront an audience as often as you can, and you will quickly cease shying. Reading a book cannot help one to overcome stage-fright. Though sooner or later you must become wet, maybe even strangling and be "half scared to death." A book may offer you outstanding advice on how best to behave in the water. Though no one ever learns to swim in the countless "wetless" bathing suits kept around the shore. The only way is to plunge. Just as practice in swimming will build confidence and facility in the water, so will practice in speaking before an audience tend to eradicate all dread of audiences. You have to grow in speaking. Every man, the apostle Paul reminds us, has to work out his own redemption. Here all we can do is provide you ideas on how to get ready for your dive. The actual plunge no one can offer for you. Although a doctor may prescribe, you have to take the medication. If at first you get stage-fright, do not become demoralized. More sensitive to suffering than a superannuated dray horse would be, Dan Patch was Appearing before an audience never hurts a fool since his capability is not one for feeling. A strike that would kill a civilized man shortly heals on a primitive. The capacity for suffering increases as we climb higher on the life scale. Some master-speakers never really overcome stage-fright for one reason or another, but it will pay off to spare no suffering. Nervous, Daniel Webster failed in his first appearance and had to take his seat without finishing his remarks. Often.