Become a Master Public Speaker – Lesson 1: Basics of Preparation and Approach

Before we actually begin with this training, we have to go through basics of preparation and approach to public speaking. It’s also yery important to lose that deadly fear that some compare with fear of death and to establish contact with your audience.  Optimal preparation is crucial to have a great speech. Oscar Wilde once apologied for the length of the letter citing lack of time and he emphasized this issue perfectly. The art to say as much as possible with as few words as possible demands much more preparation time. Public speaking is an art of effective communication which has to show good results as soon as possible. Therefore, preparation for the speech is crucial and time spent for it is a great investment, since good preparation leads to great results and bad preparation to the opposites. So, why do public speaker often skip this part?

Bad preparation usually leads to bad execution. There are three factors that in most cases lead to insufficient preparation. Study this factors closely and assure you won’t make this unnecessary mistakes. As soon as you recognize one of those behavioral patterns on yourself, try not to overlook it but to have it always in front of the eyes and do something to scratch out this feeling. Conscious coping with problematic behavioral patterns is the basis for eliminating them. Don’t let bad behavioral patterns to conquer your mind but try to weigh up with positive patterns until permanent elimination of the undesired patterns occurs.

1. Lack of time and undervaluation. Defective preparation because of lack of time and stress is no rarity in today’s hectic World. But consider – It’s always the matter of your own valuation how much time and effort are you willing to put into something. If someone considers something really important he or she also finds the time to do it properly. Undervaluation can lead to turning out badly. No matter what’s the topic, without real preparation you can’t bring your optimal speech and you also “sell” yourself under your true value.

2. Preparation laziness and copying standard stuff. Relying on your or others standard lectures from the past which already resound in ears of the listeners show speaker’s true lazy nature and are usually considered as bad choice. Being unprepared because of lazyness can also lead to laughing scenes when topic on presentation slides and those of the speaker don’t match.

3. Exaggerated self-confidence. Confident appearance is in general an important value of good public speakers, but as always, there is no need to exaggerate with it. Too self-confident people tend not to prepare for their speeches and lectures and think they can produce great stuff without any preparation. This can quickly become a way to lose admirers and even become annoying.

TIP: Always fit your speech concept to the listeners, because content from pre-written speeches is often too general for being successful in very specialized audience.

When people get the feeling that speech is superficially prepared or based on contribution for another situation, they feel as not taken seriously enough. Such insult on self-esteem of the target group is certainly not a good base for a convincing appearance.