Royane Real
Do You Really Want to Be a Great Public Speaker?
By Royane Real
Have you ever wondered what it takes to become a really great public speaker? Before I became a writer, I spent nearly twenty years teaching many hundreds of people how to give speeches and presentations to the general public. Because of the many years of experience I have had teaching people to improve their public speaking ability, I was able to discover what separated those people who became great public speakers from those who remained mediocre.
Many of the people I trained in public speaking had never made a speech or given a presentation before. A lot of them didn't think they could do it. When they first started speaking and making public presentations, many of them were quite anxious. That`s not really a surprise because a fear of public speaking ranks number one as many people`s greatest terror.
After all these years I spent training people in public speaking and helping them improve, I often tried to analyze what the most important factors were which determined who would become a really good public speaker and who wouldn't.
I can truly say that every single person who made a sincere effort to improve their public speaking skills eventually became much better at speaking in public than they had been when they started. Even those people who had been very nervous and awkward when they first started giving presentations public usually became relaxed and effective after some practice and some coaching.
One big factor that made a lot of difference in improving people`s public speaking ability was the number of speeches and presentations that they made. Those people who were willing to practice a lot and who gave many speeches usually had a much faster rate of progress.
Still, it turned out that the amount of practice was not the most important factor in whether people improved their speech making skills or not. Some of the people who showed no improvement in their public speaking skills actually made speeches quite often.
So, what is the most important factor that determines whether or not you can become a really good speaker?
Here is what I discovered. The single most important factor in whether or not you can become a good public speaker is whether you have the desire to do so. If you have the desire and make a commitment to be a really good public speaker, you will be, although it will take some time and some practice. If you don`t have the desire and commitment to be a good public speaker, you won`t be.
You have to want to be good. You have to want to improve every time you step out in front of a group of people. Without the desire to be a good speaker, you won`t make the effort required to keep improving. You won`t have the courage to listen to your public speaking coaches. You won`t be interested in getting the feedback from your audience and acting on it.
It`s really very simple. Those people who sincerely want to improve their speaking abilities are the ones who can improve.
If you don`t have a strong desire to improve your public speaking, it won`t really matter how much you practice. It won`t matter how much coaching you get.
But if you do have the sincere desire to be a really good public speaker, you already have the most important quality. If you have a sincere desire to improve your presentation skills, there’s no limit to how far you can go.
This article was written by Royane Real, author of How You Can Be Smarter - Use Your Brain to Learn Faster, Remember Better and Be More Creative
Do you ever wish you were smarter? In my book you will discover many ways to boost your brain power. Download it today at http://www.lulu.com/real
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
