Public Speaker
Today I had the opportunity to pour into one of the leaders at Harrah Church. We talked about public speaking and a few things that I think could be helpful to many. If you lead a small group of adults or present a lesson to the children ministry it will require you to do the one thing that scares most people to death. The key to overcoming your fear is confidence. Therefore it is essential to have a high level of confidence. When it comes to communication PREPARATION is the only way to increase your confidence. The greatest mistake a communicator can make is a lack of preparation. Preparation includes more than research. When it comes to leading a group of 12 or speaking in front of 1200 you need to think it through from preparation to presentation. Tomorrow I will share more about my process of preparation. But for today tell me what scares you most about public speaking.
I guess what scares me most is, when I talk to people I like to connect with them. That way I can tell if they are “picking up what I’m putting down”. I don’t like being uncertain about what they are thinking about what I am saying, so speaking in front of a lot of people makes me extremely nervous. I feel that not everyone will agree with me and I won’t be able to address this if I don’t know about it…..I should say, not that we all need to agree, but I like to at least come to an understanding. On the lighter side, I know it’s shocking, but I don’t like to be the center of attention in large groups of people. LOL
I used to be terrified of public speaking! I can say that I’m not that way anymore – and that’s a miracle. I remember one time I was given a time period on a Sunday night to discuss a project – and I wasn’t very well prepared and I took about 5 minutes and it was horrible! Remember that? That’s taught me some lessons and now I prepare to the max every time I know I’m going to speak publically. I prepare an outline. I usually practice and time myself. I still get butterflies – but people tell me it doesn’t come across that way anymore. I think the more you do this – the better you get if you really want to improve on this skill. I let people critique me and always ask for feedback. The last time I spoke – people told me they didn’t know I was that funny – I enjoy making people laugh so that was cool.