Speaking Extemporaneously
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- jtb26
I'm lousy at it. While I don't completely seize up - I get flustered and lose my train of thought. Not sure what it is, lack of confidence or if I've just severely dumbed down over the years – I just went from being a mediocre speaker to moderately inept. It's not that I'm afraid to get up in front of people - I want to do it and be decent at it.
One thing I'm considering is turning up to one of these. http://www.toastmasters.org/ Though I'm unsure if it's worth it. I came across them by way of a sleezy (former) employer.
Anyone have a similar experience, or advice?
- drgs0
Stop watching porn for two weeks, you'll be more confident and have deep rich voice. Im not kidding
- bulletfactory0
My wife went to a few toastmaster meetings, and I know a few people who attend regularly. They have grown into fantastic public speakers. They know how to hold a room and look totally comfortable doing it.
Some people are just born with the ability, others have to really work on it. From what I hear, if your company/org doesn't pay for it, it's rather expensive.
- fadein110
this feels like clever(er) spam
- GeorgesII0
this isn't spam?
- no, look at the user:
http://www.qbn.com/j…monospaced - it's potted ham, the generic brand.tasty
- if it is - jtb26 is playing the long-con - member since 2009, website/email:check, and he responds regularly.bulletfactory
- LOL @ bulletfactoryORAZAL
- I assure you I'm not spam. I may be annoying - but whatever.jtb26
- no, look at the user:
- locustsloth0
i took a public speaking class in high school which helped a lot. Then i had a boss who had formerly been the head of PR at a large company. Listening to him talk to people in person, or even on the phone, taught me a ton about how to present yourself when speaking.
i find it helps to pretend that you are a gameshow host, to some degree.
- ORAZAL0
I can't believe it's not spam
- Although I know for sure it's notORAZAL
- I can't believe it's not butter!monospaced
- hahasine
- Lol - not spam.jtb26
- waterhouse0
Training/seminars do help. There are alternatives to Toastmasters.
- You could also check into acting/improv classes.waterhouse
- Gordy220
How many people had to look up 'Extemporaneously'? Me, for one.
- I didmonospaced
- kind of guessed the meaning after reading the questiondrgs
- melocustsloth
- LukeO0
I was going to post about this kind of thing. Basically I've gone from being a first class blagger from my uni days/first steps into design days ... now into, a bit of a rut. I don't blag now basically (causes all sorts of problems!) which doesn't leave much left!
Must be a confidence thing, I guessing the best remedy is to knuckle down and really study and understand what your talking about, in my case focus needed on branding / strategy and how I explain our method to clients... any decent tips on talking a good design game greatly appreciated...... because I'm clearly shit at it and I think it's really holding me back now. Thanks!
- "Blagger", ha :)
It's all changed now, eh ? No more driving round town with 100 pills in your underwear, eh?mikotondria3 - The Times They Are a-Changin!LukeO
- "Blagger", ha :)
- mg330
Interesting topic. I speak in front of clients quite a bit at project kickoff meetings, and I've found that I'm best suited to smaller rooms of people where I can quickly identify and warm up to the key people in the room. I have one coming up soon though where there will be about a dozen client members, and like 7 of us from our company.
A little nervous about it. I know my stuff, and frankly I'm there more to listen than to dictate. The last really large meeting I was at, which was last year, had about 5 non-essential attorneys there that were name partners or hotshots who wanted to throw their status around. I mispronounced ONE Jewish law firm name incorrectly and was instantly a dumb shit based on their body language after that.
- rupedixon0
^the best advice is, do not bullshit.... and keep it objective, if you believe something, explain why. if you don't know something, admit it before they discover it for themselves... for instance, you could say you don't know, but think "*insert bullshit here"
(presuming OP was referring to presenting design/creative to clients??)
personally I've never done a course, rather learnt the hard and awkward way by just doing it. once you're relaxed talking to people you don't know about your work it flows really naturally, in an engaging way.
- jtb260
Rupedixon - So it's 1/2 about presenting to clients. I want to be able to excel at that, and usually with one or two people I can hold my own - anywhere north of 5 tend to lose my grip a bit.
The other half is that I'm on my local AIGA board, and moving into a leadership position. Which means I get to open up events and speak to rather large groups. Ex: We threw an event last night and I opened it up. There isn't anyone who knows the event details better than myself - i set a lot of it up. I could tell you all the upcoming events etc. But I got to the podium and I'm came off all nervous and ridiculous. I'm sure I just need practice, but I really thought my skills from playing in a band in front of large groups would have translated. Without a guitar I'm afraid I'm hopeless! :)
The reason I thought about taking a class is that I don't want to flop with actual clients - because I don't know how much rope I have with my CD. So outside practice would be useful I think.
- rupedixon0
from my experience people who've done the courses all recommend it, but again, ultimately nothing beats the experience of getting up and doing it for real.
I imagine the next time you open an event your nerves will similar to your experience last night, but slightly less. From then on i think it's a bell curve, where you start at the peak, progress feels slow, until one day you find yourself completely chilled, and not really knowing how that came to happen...
Sometimes props are helpful (building on the band analogy), so as the guitar is a prop you hide behind, I think the same goes for presenting design, in a sense your work, laptop, presentation etc. are all things you can use to fortify your nerves.