Who doesn’t have to speak in public?

No really, if you think about it… we all have to engage in some form of public speaking on a daily basis.

But what if you have to speak publicly for a living?

What if you need to present to the C-Suite on a weekly basis?

What if you need to talk with and encourage and motivate your team members on a DAILY basis?

I came across this wonderful book, The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie and Joseph Berg Esenwein, and I had to share some of my golden nuggets.

While it doesn’t compare to reading the book… it might bring you some insights as you prepare to go into your next meeting later today or even this week. Here it is:

 

It is sheer egotism to fill your mind with thoughts of self when the greater thing is there – truth.
If the theater caught fire you could rush the stage and shout directions to the audience without any self-consciousness, for the importance of what you were saying would drive all fear thoughts out of your mind.
Have the first few sentences worked out completely so that you may not be troubled in the beginning to find words. Know your subject better than your hearers know it, and you have nothing to fear.
Overconfidence is bad, but to tolerate premonitions of failure is worse.
If you believe you will fail, there is no hope for you. You will.
Rid yourself of this “I am a poor worm in the dust idea”. You are a god, with infinite capabilities. “All things are ready if the mind be so.”

Take a deep breath, relax, and begin in the quiet conversational tone as though you were speaking to one large friend.
The bravest no fear, but they do not yield to it.
In your audience slice some victory for you and the cause you represent. Go with it.

 

and this is the one I love the most:

 

And remember that your audience is infinitely more important than you, the truth is more important than the both of you, because it is eternal.

 

Sure there are the jitters, but the jitters only get worse because of the story you are telling yourself in your mind.

Get good and telling the truth, and then you become unstoppable.

In wellness,

Susan