As I made a late night trip to the store tonight, I listened to a show on CNBC. Mike Rowe, of Dirty Jobs fame, was a guest talking about what I surmised to be a book of his. The host read what sounded like titles to chapters, all of which sounded like platitudes. Some were quite funny, but one struck a chord and I thought I'd share it with all.
The title was "Think about what you are doing, not how." He recounted being a music student and flubbing a piece in a concert and hearing his teacher tell him to concentrate on what he was doing, not how. It struck me that is the secret to my methods for public speaking, although I'd never put it into words as eloquent as those. And though it is a simple thought, it is one that most do not seem able to grasp.
Most people seem to approach public speaking worried about how they are going to appear to others. So gripped are they by the fear they will be perceived foolish that they lose the ability to be natural, and thus cause their very fears to come true. Once naturalness is lost the person is forced to fit themselves into an imagined persona and they become the laughing stock they were so trying to avoid. Don't believe me? Try this experiment. Find a voice recorder and record yourself saying something. Then listen back. I'll bet you try to sound like a radio personality. You drop your vocal tone a couple octaves and put on your suave voice. And when you listen to it, you will recognize how ridiculous you sounded trying to sound cool and normal.
This brings to mind the old adage, pride goeth before the fall. It also brings to mind something I was told when I was learning a foreign language. I was told I was bound to make 10,000 mistakes before I could be considered fluent, so I might as well get started and get them out of the way as soon as possible. How does this tie in? Simple, when I ignored the spectre of making a mistake in front of someone else and concentrated on what I was doing I was free to learn. Then, I was free to speak.
Public speaking doesn't necessarily mean making a speech. It can be any activity that requires one to interact verbally with others. It can be telling a joke to friends, or calling out a play in the huddle. So remember to concentrate on what you are doing, there will be time after you are done to guage how you did. This is the best way to break free of the bonds that bind your tongue.
The title was "Think about what you are doing, not how." He recounted being a music student and flubbing a piece in a concert and hearing his teacher tell him to concentrate on what he was doing, not how. It struck me that is the secret to my methods for public speaking, although I'd never put it into words as eloquent as those. And though it is a simple thought, it is one that most do not seem able to grasp.
Most people seem to approach public speaking worried about how they are going to appear to others. So gripped are they by the fear they will be perceived foolish that they lose the ability to be natural, and thus cause their very fears to come true. Once naturalness is lost the person is forced to fit themselves into an imagined persona and they become the laughing stock they were so trying to avoid. Don't believe me? Try this experiment. Find a voice recorder and record yourself saying something. Then listen back. I'll bet you try to sound like a radio personality. You drop your vocal tone a couple octaves and put on your suave voice. And when you listen to it, you will recognize how ridiculous you sounded trying to sound cool and normal.
This brings to mind the old adage, pride goeth before the fall. It also brings to mind something I was told when I was learning a foreign language. I was told I was bound to make 10,000 mistakes before I could be considered fluent, so I might as well get started and get them out of the way as soon as possible. How does this tie in? Simple, when I ignored the spectre of making a mistake in front of someone else and concentrated on what I was doing I was free to learn. Then, I was free to speak.
Public speaking doesn't necessarily mean making a speech. It can be any activity that requires one to interact verbally with others. It can be telling a joke to friends, or calling out a play in the huddle. So remember to concentrate on what you are doing, there will be time after you are done to guage how you did. This is the best way to break free of the bonds that bind your tongue.
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