I listen to a lot of podcasts. It’s my way of getting my radio fix.
Recently I was listening to With Good Reason, and they had a very interesting program about public speaking, and how Americans are tongue-tied. It once again emphasized to me how important presentation skills are. You can listen to “Tongue Ties America” here.
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Every now and then I get asked how I became a Certified World Class Speaking Coach. I tell them about the 12 week course I had with Craig Valentine and Mitch Meyerson. This invariably leads to the question “how can I become a World Class Certified Coach?”
The answer is simple. You need to sign up for the annual class. And now is a good time to do it. This year’s class is filling up. If you want to join, go to speakprofessionally.net/becomeacoach and sign up. It will make you a better coach, better speaker an overall better person. OK, maybe not the last one, but it is still worth it!
Note: I got updated the page, because I got Mitch’s last name wrong.
I am happy that I went to Las Vegas and “Lady & the Champs” recently. I learned a lot, got to deepen my friendship with some people from last year and met a lot of new friends.
Of course I also got to meet and talk with the hosts. The adorable Patricia Fripp, the always engaging Ed Tate, the foundational phrase philosopher Craig Valentine and the man who reinvented humor, and the first to inspire me to think about becoming a speaker, Darren LaCroix. In addition, we even got a bonus drop in from the man with the smooth smile and golden laugh, Mark Brown.
That is Darren and I on the photo. In case you don’t know who is who, I carry my name badge, and has my tie flying all over the place. That’s what you get when you end up side by side with a superstar.
I often hear people talking about improving their public speaking skills. Of course, part of that is because I’m a Toastmaster, and public speaking lies near and dear to a Toastmaster’s heart. But what does it really mean? In my mind, the word “public” indicates that it is about something anybody could come and listen to. There might be a fee included, but the aim is the general public.
I don’t believe that is true for most of us. I would say that we target most of our presentations and speeches at very private and closed audiences. I’m thinking, colleagues at work, your manager or your (hopefully) future employer. None of that qualifies as public speaking in my book, and it is most definitively not a conference keynote speech. As a matter of fact it shouldn’t be. Each presentation and each speech have specific goals in mind, and reaching that target audience is one of those goals.
Does that mean that we can’t learn from the great keynote speakers? Of course we can learn from them! Anybody who is a skilled keynote speaker must be a skilled communicator. And that is what all presentations and speeches are about. Communication. To get your message across to your audience.
Each setting and each situation has its own unique approach, but there are some time-tested techniques that will make your message clearer in the mind of your audience. That is why I always attempt to learn from the best. Would you like to join me in becoming a better communicator?