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Public Speaking Skills For Dummies
Cover of Public Speaking Skills For Dummies
Public Speaking Skills For Dummies
Borrow Borrow

Project self-assurance when speaking—even if you don't feel confident! 

When you speak in public, your reputation is at stake. Whether you're speaking at a conference, pitching for new business, or presenting to your Executive Board, the ability to connect with, influence, and inspire your audience is a critically important skill. Public Speaking Skills For Dummies introduces you to simple, practical, and real-world techniques and insights that will transform your ability to achieve impact through the spoken word.

In this book, champion of public speaking Alyson Connolly takes you step by step through the process of conceiving, crafting, and delivering a high-impact presentation. You'll discover how to overcome your nerves, engage your audience, and convey gravitas—all while getting your message across clearly and concisely.

  • Bring ideas to life through business storytelling
  • Use space and achieve an even greater sense of poise
  • Get your message across with greater clarity, concision, and impact
  • Deal more effectively with awkward questions

    Get ready to win over hearts and minds —and deliver the talk of your life!

  • Project self-assurance when speaking—even if you don't feel confident! 

    When you speak in public, your reputation is at stake. Whether you're speaking at a conference, pitching for new business, or presenting to your Executive Board, the ability to connect with, influence, and inspire your audience is a critically important skill. Public Speaking Skills For Dummies introduces you to simple, practical, and real-world techniques and insights that will transform your ability to achieve impact through the spoken word.

    In this book, champion of public speaking Alyson Connolly takes you step by step through the process of conceiving, crafting, and delivering a high-impact presentation. You'll discover how to overcome your nerves, engage your audience, and convey gravitas—all while getting your message across clearly and concisely.

  • Bring ideas to life through business storytelling
  • Use space and achieve an even greater sense of poise
  • Get your message across with greater clarity, concision, and impact
  • Deal more effectively with awkward questions

    Get ready to win over hearts and minds —and deliver the talk of your life!

  • Available formats-
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    • EPUB eBook
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    About the Author-
    • Alyson Connolly, BFA, MFA is a voice and public speaking coach who specializes in painless public speaking and overcoming perfor- mance anxiety. She is also a keynote speaker, having been a performer her whole life, starting out as a child actor, and has been a teacher of drama and theater for the past 30 years. www.alysonconnolly.com

    Table of Contents-
    • Introduction 1

      How This Book Is Organized 2

      Foolish Assumptions 3

      Icons 4

      Beyond the Book 4

      Where to Go from Here 4

      Part 1: Laying the Groundwork 7

      Chapter 1: Getting Started with Public Speaking 9

      Dealing with Issues That Stand in Your Way 10

      Fighting the fight, flight, or freeze response 10

      Affirming your worth with affirmations 11

      Creating reality with visualization 11

      Getting rid of tension 12

      Improving Your Body Language 12

      Gesturing 13

      Moving 14

      Making eye contact 14

      Adjusting Your Pace 15

      Perfecting the pause 15

      Supporting Your Breath 16

      Boosting Confidence through Preparation and Training 17

      Breathing (your own) life into speeches 18

      Planning out your speech 18

      Getting ready for the big day 19

      Eating right to feel good 20

      Honing Your Delivery 20

      Articulating 20

      Resonating 21

      Using the right tone 21

      Adding visuals 21

      Getting laughs 22

      Telling stories 23

      Dealing with the Audience 23

      Excelling in Interviews 24

      Mastering the Fine Art of Conversation 25

      Dropping the Ball and Still Managing to Score 26

      Wearing Clothes That Spell Success 26

      Chapter 2: Getting Your Brain in the Game 29

      Recognizing the Pitfalls of Negative Thoughts 30

      Saying no to negatives: Avoiding your triggers 31

      Perfecting perfectionism 32

      Nixing those niggling negatives 33

      Keeping the Brain's Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response in Check 34

      Saying yes to adrenaline 34

      Stopping cortisol in its tracks 35

      Thinking like a caveperson 36

      Leveraging the power of neuroplasticity 37

      Adopting a Yes Let's Attitude 38

      Knowing When to Say No 39

      Part 2: Diagnosing and Treating Common Afflictions 41

      Chapter 3: Overcoming Performance Anxiety 43

      Staying Loose: Tension Can Ruin a Speech 44

      Proper posture: Alignment isn't just for cars 44

      Identifying the tension 47

      Releasing the tension 48

      Chin Up and Don't Slouch 49

      Breathing as a sloucher 49

      Why feeling bad ends up sounding bad 50

      Using Your Body to Battle the Fight, Flight, or Freeze Response 53

      Chapter 4: Curing Common Vocal Problems 57

      Vanquishing Vocal Fry 58

      Recognizing vocal fry and its causes 58

      Seeing why vocal fry is perceived negatively 59

      Undoing Upspeak 60

      Knowing why we upspeak 61

      Decomissioning Devoicing 62

      Recognizing devoicing 62

      If you're a natural devoicer 63

      Battling Breathiness 64

      How breathing works 65

      What breathiness does to credibility 66

      Negating Nasal Voice 66

      Preventing the Push: Speaking Evenly 67

      Disconnecting your thoughts and feelings 68

      Wingin' it 68

      Stopping Stuttering 69

      Breathing to alleviate stuttering 70

      Rolling with word flubs 70

      Denying the Drop 71

      Chapter 5: Conquering Impostor Syndrome: You Are Who You Think You Are 73

      Feeling Like a Phony 74

      Diagnosing yourself 74

      Critiquing the criticism 75

      Understanding Why It Happens 76

      Feeling a failure onstage and off 77

      Lucking into success 78

      Being Yourself 79

      Part 3: Preparing Your Speech and Training Yourself 83

      Chapter 6: Crafting a Captivating Speech 85

      Planning and Preparing 86

      What's Your Point? 86

      Hooking Your Audience...

    Title Information+
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      Wiley
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    Public Speaking Skills For Dummies
    Public Speaking Skills For Dummies
    Alyson Connolly
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