This week in Public Speaking

ABCD of Public Speaking

Harvard professor Dale Deletis’ ABCD approach to overcome the “fight or flight syndrome” of public speaking:

Click here to read the article. _{Hat tip Coachlisab.}

Why shouldn’t you use text in PowerPoint

According to researcher John Sweller, our brain can not absorb information verbally and visually at the same time – either Listen or View but not both simultaneously.

In my opinion, the best practice is to use the slides for pictures that complement your presentation and while you are speaking, change to black slides (Bert Decker’s advice) to get the attention back to you and avoid distraction.

Click here for the article.

Also, don’t miss this post from Presentation Zen

Pause is Important

Tom Antion talks about three types of pauses in Public Speaking:

• Short:One to two second pause to separate your thoughts
• Spontaneity: The pause while searching for a word or a phrase
• Long: Three seconds pause to help the audience think over what you have said

Don’t memorize your speeches

John Windsor of The You Blog has a great advice in his post “Death by Memorization”

• Don’t try to memorize every word of your presentation. Research the topic well and memorize just the first couple of minutes of the speech.
• Practice your speech, but don’t be worry about the exact words.

_{hat tip KnowHR}

How to be a great audience

Marketing Guru Seth Godin has a post on being a great audience. In the article he says:

• Show interest, lean forward, make eye contact
• Ask questions
• By showing genuine interest you will not just help the speaker but benefit much more.

Click here to read the article

Related:
Art of Communication
Creating Listening Culture
How to listen meaningfully

Have a great week-end.