Public speaking is a skill in communication which is valued across business and personal aspects of life.  Many people fear public speaking but it is a form of communication which can add real value to your personal and business development as well as building esteem or self worth.

A lack of confidence is a main cause for people to shy away from speaking in public, and this may hold them back from progressing in certain aspects of their life, be it work or personal.  Some may hold off from promotions or certain avenues of work due to the fear of presenting.

Confidence comes as a result of two important factors, Mindset and skills set.  An altered mindset can bring the confidence, and a good skill set will give colour or interest to your delivery

Mindset can be overcome when we take some of the pressure away from the moment or presentation and keep it in perspective in life.  If we build a moment up in our minds to be so high pressure and so important it can deeply affect the way we compose ourselves, causing anxiety to develop even at the thought of the presentation.  If we try and keep a light view of the task in hand this can help us to manage it mentally, ie -are we giving an important business pitch, or are we talking to colleagues and business contacts about something we do daily?  If we can continue to develop the latter mindset this takes some of the fear factor away.  And the more we tell ourselves something, the more we believe it.

It can also be overcome when we take focus away from ourselves, our feelings, and focus our thoughts on the subject of our presentation, why it is of value to others and what positive impact it can have on your audience.  When you think of others, it stops you thinking unduly about yourself.

Skills Set are things that we either already have that can be developed, or things we can learn and put into practice.  Things like Gestures, Pausing, Story Telling etc which can be used to good effect when we present or give speeches.  If we learn actual skills and have the knowledge we have been taught and trained, then this in itself gives us confidence that what we are doing is based on solid foundations.  When we learn a skill and then practice it until we are confident and proficient in that skill, we are more comfortable performing this skill in front of others then because we have these skills in our speaking arsenal this will provide colour to our delivery making it enjoyable to listen too.

The courses run by Keynote Speaker Ltd are designed to help you with both mindset and skills set to ensure when you need to present, you can do so with the confidence and assurance that you can deliver. Open courses, In house training or private 1-2-1 coaching are all available. Contact us for more info or to book a coach or find out about our open course dates.