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Comprehension Strategies
Learning Comprehension Techniques
INTRODUCTION
Public speaking is considered by most studies as a person’s number one fear, ranking even before death. To put it in Jerry Seinfield’s words, “This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy”.
We could spend hours talking about all the reasons behind this fear, but it wouldn’t change much. Whether it is giving a toast at your best friend’s wedding or presenting in front of a thousand people, the result is that most people’s emotional state will go from a slight tension to real panic: not really ideal to perform at our best! Feeling anxious and nervous, though, is only one of the barriers that stand between you and engaging your audience with ease.
Even if you are one of the few folks who don’t feel pressure when you are speaking in front of others, you may still not have the abilities you wish as a public speaker. There are two other ingredients you need in order to succeed at this art.
- The first is the ability to remember everything. Why is this so relevant to a public speaker? The competence you have will make a difference in the impression you will leave. Knowing everything doesn’t just mean remembering the script of what you need to say, but it means creating an iceberg of knowledge underneath the words you are saying. If anyone asked you to deepen any topic, you should be able to do it (time allowing it). If someone had a question, you should be able to answer with more than a surface level breakdown. There is nothing worse than realizing that the “expert” in front of you (because an expert is what you are at the eyes of your listeners) isn’t an expert at all.
- The other ingredient you need to excel at Public Speaking is a whole set of skills that will allow you to keep your audience engaged. Some traditional public speaking schools will teach you a series of strict rules to follow, but the effect in this case will be – again – to add more stress to your already stressed mind. The key is to keep you natural and spontaneous while making sure that your message comes across. How can we do this? By putting together extraordinary techniques to relax your body and brain to get into a productive emotional state with the ability to remember everything in the right order in as much detail as needed, with the skills you need to deliver it in the best possible way in order to mesmerise and engage your audience.
Stop worrying about work presentations, job interviews, speeches on stage, and even giving a toast to your friend!