Becoming an amazing keynote speaker doesn’t just happen. Like anything else in life, learning how to become a public speaker takes practice. You’ve all heard it — any great endeavor worth doing, is worth doing it well. Without special abilities, very few people will ever just sit down and play the piano. Even with much practice, many pianist are still lousy and it makes you cringe to hear them play. Rarely will someones first painting be a Picasso — well — maybe a Picasso, but you get what I mean.
A secret mindset of an amazing public speaker — Perfect practice, makes perfect. Nope.
Have you heard of “practice makes perfect?” This is a false statement. Practice does NOT make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.
In piano lessons one day, I complained, “I have played this section 10 times every single day and it’s still wrong.” The professor said, “then you are playing it wrong in the first place.” She told me to practice the passage 100 times daily — correctly — and perfectly — then if there was still a problem we would talk.
It doesn’t take a study to show that if you do it wrong every time (speaking) — you will still do it wrong in the end.
You have to improve and practice improving. For musicians it takes playing a passage 27 times to fix one error. Thankfully to be an incredible pubic speaker doesn’t take that amount of practice, but very few speakers get off without running their paces either. It takes you doing the work. Use better practicing habits with your speeches takes care of much of the mindset issues..
The Secret to the practice of an Amazing public speaker. Mindset.
Down the road your speeches will be fine. It’s in fixing the mindset before the speech that you have to work on first. Preparation breeds confidence in whatever you undertake to accomplish — and speaking is no different. Prepare enough and you can’t fail.
Practice your saying your speech as perfectly as possible. Pronounce every word, slowly, with diction, say every word clearly. Then when you stand up to speak, and you get nervous — it won’t matter.
On stage your speech begins blasting out faster and faster. If you have employed “perfect practice” enough times — every word will still be heard. The words and meaning will not just be heard, but clearly understood. There is an exact prescription to a musician playing a piece perfectly. Remember any endeavor will be perfect — with perfect practice.
Zombies, apocalypse, flying bugs, the plague, snakes, alligators? Fine — no big deal. Public Speaking — oh no.
Public speaking scares most people at the outset. Trust me – you will be fine.
Deliver your speeches as perfectly as possible. Then one day — something will happen. One day, your mindset will shift and you will have become an amazing speaker. Here are a few ways to conquer your mindset.
The Secret of Mindset of an Amazing Public Speaker.
An amazing public speaker has a have a set of tools in their tool belt. Add these tools to your tool belt and gain the “secret mindset of an amazing public speaker.”
1. You’re not perfect. Guess-what, no one cares.
The audience is coming here to hear what you have to say and learn something. It’s not about you. What makes the mindset different in an amazing public speaker? Confidence, sure, but it is more than this.
Great speakers usually have had to do some big soul searching. They have to let themselves off the hook for a few things. One of those things is that the speaker has do, is get past the fact that they are no-way, no-where, and no-how — perfect. You can and will do this too. You’ll suddenly realize that it has never been about you — it has only been about them (your audience). That mind shift sets you free to become a worthwhile, contributing speaker.
2. You can’t just think about the mindset. You have to allow the mindset to occur in yourself — and those thoughts change your mindset. The amazing mindset it is a process.
You have to stand up on stage and realize that others could be doing a better job.
Others haven’t make some mistakes you have made. You may feel that someone else has had greater advantages. And you think — others, others, others. To actually obtain the right mindset — the “others” thoughts have to go away. Because it doesn’t matter what the others have done.
It is you doing this speech right now — not others. It is you who are there to help someone else — not others. It’s you who made the errors and have the successes. It’s you who have lived to tell about it — so tell about it. You are the one speaking in this moment. No one else — you — not the others.
3. For the right mindset for you to be amazing — you have to settle something else. “I’m a hypocrite.”
A hypocrite? Why, yes you are. You have to let all of those thoughts go. “Oh no, I’m a hypocrite.”
So what (it’s not a question — it’s a statement). “Oh no, I don’t do all of these things all the time.” So what. “Oh no — whatever…” SO WHAT.
To gain the secret mindset and have the secret mindset — you have to let all of that go. No one wants to sit down and hear you run yourself down — no one cares. These people have come and paid a lot of their hard earned case to hear you — to be inspired by you. They’ve come to hear your experiences and the “secrets” from you — and you have them. What are these secrets? What do you know that you want to let go of — to enrich these people lives that have come here to hear you today?
4.The story. Most people can hear just about everything if it’s put into a story. Learn to tell a great story. Put in the great and spicy details.
Eye-candy — please — yuk! Give your audience “ear candy.”
As you speak, have your descriptions such that, in the details your audience sees the sights, touches the objects, smells the smells and tastes what you are telling them. Most of all — help them feel all the detail you can put in your speech. To be an incredible speaker — an amazing speaker and more — your audience must feel what you are saying.
Get your mindset to the place where your audience can touch you –actually touch you — heart to heart. Send out a feeling from yourself — for them to feel. The fastest way to do this is to speak a truth. Truth to a truth will allow someone to feel you and your message — every time.
5. Learn to love stories for the art of the story-telling — and the story-hearing merit.
Sometimes a great piece of B.S. is wonderful. Think of Augmented Reality — a great piece of “Spoken AR,” can’t be overemphasized. Run with it.
I have a brother that we call the “Baron of BS.” He can take any issue, any occurrence, any situation — totally true — and make it absolutely irresistible and delightful. The very worst nightmare of information and horrific situations can be the most fabulous and funny stories.
Take pieces of your life — maybe something so awful you could die — and make that into a great story.
Write it down, memorize it, practice it and try it out on some friends. Watch what happens to the other person.
If they look at you with disbelief — you don’t have enough truth in the story. They may laugh right out loud at the right spot — keep that part in your speech. Shedding a tear at the right moment may be the highest prize, if it doesn’t happen too often. Keep that part for your speech. If they cringe — perfect. It means they heard it, saw it, and felt it. Boom – use that piece.
6. Listen to great speakers and go to conferences.
One of the greatest places to find great speech material and mindset is to go and listen to sales people.
Go hear great speakers at all kinds of events. Don’t limit yourself to just public speakers. Go hear the political candidate, the leader of a business, and any and all speakers that speak on any topic. Sales and marketing people are the most intense people on the earth — no — the most intense persons in the universe. Pick up some of that energy and use that acute energy and fierceness and add power to your speaking story. Most of the best marketing speakers or social media speakers I know feed off other speakers. I know hear the pitches and sales stories — write your material using that push, feeling and protracted intensity. Read, listen and digest anything about sales — for a better mindset in speaking.
7. Read a lot of quotes and memorize them. When you hear a good story, write it down.
Comedians have had to look for material from pieces of life that go by the rest of us.
We have never consciously noticed or observed what they talk about. Now watch the antics and acting performance of the comedian. Listen and watch a comedians face. Look harder to see what they see — and copy that style. I’m not saying be a comedian — I’m saying start observing life and the human condition more deeply and your mindset will shift.
8. Practice your language skills to be an amazing public speaker.
This is why you write things down first. You want to be speaking from deeply learned material and finely tuned words that are easily understandable.
Yet you will require words that convey a deeper meaning when speaking. Incorporate your information into finely tuned explanations and word pictures. To say, “There is this guy at work and he just stinks.” Does that mean he stinks at his job? He doesn’t take a shower? What?
If I say, “There is a person at work who I witness great potential in.” He loves people, works hard, and brings light to the entire work environment with his upbeat and joyful personality. However, he’s always tardy — and to me — that stinks. Do we keep him? With that word picture — not only can better decisions can be made — but it makes better speaking when you are on stage.
Finally.
Begin to practice good grammar and fine language.
Watch, observe, and listen to other people’s speech patterns. Write fine information and saying and incorporate them in your life. Prepare and do more high-quality speaking, not only on stage, but also on the stage of life. Only then, can you gain the secret mindset of an amazing public speaker.
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