Top 10 Problematic Speaking Skills

By Lynda Stucky

Without a doubt, communicating effectively in the work place benefits both the employee and employer. Here are some common problems that may necessitate further action to improve speaking skills and elevate your presence.

1. You hear yourself on tape and you refuse to believe that it is you speaking. Believe it or not, the way you hear yourself on tape is the real you! When you hear yourself speaking from within yourself, you are hearing the vibrations of sound vibrate off of the bony structures of your head. It sounds different when you hear your voice "outside of yourself" on a tape-recorder.

2. People mistake you for the wrong age and the wrong sex. If this is happening to you, you are probably speaking with the wrong pitch!

3. You have to repeat yourself more than once or twice a day. You might be mumbling or speaking too softly. A foreign accent might also be interfering with the listener's understanding.

4. Your speech has caused people to laugh. Not a good thing at all! Hope this never happens to you. You might be "hypernasal" or sound like you are speaking through your nose.

5. Voice and speech skills can be detrimental to career advancement. This happens quite frequently since people climbing the corporate ladder are usually asked to spend more time in the public eye. Employers want a polished-looking representative of their company.

6. You've received negative feedback somewhere. Did you ever give a speech and your written feedback was that people couldn't hear you or understand you? That's a miserable feeling if you receive this kind of feedback. Besides, you probably worked very hard at creating the perfect presentation.

7. You refrain from public speaking because it is terrifying. An easy solution to feeling comfortable speaking in front of a group is to get in front of a group more often! The best place to do that is at a Toastmasters Club (most cities have them) where the purpose is to practice speaking in front of groups. Club members have the same goal as you!

8. People can tell where you are from by your regional accent. Being identified by your regional accent isn't necessarily a bad thing. However, some regional accents have a negative image and make the speaker sound uneducated. How is the accent of your region perceived?

9. Your voice tires during the day or you lose your voice completely. Not a good sign if you lose your voice completely. You may be harming your vocal cords by speaking too frequently, too loudly, or at the wrong pitch. Good voice care (or vocal hygiene) can make all the difference maintaining symptom-free voicing especially for heavy voice users!

10. You emotions show through your voice. What pushes your hot buttons and how do you do talking about these issues in public? Employees in the public eye need to be careful about showing their emotions in public. Many company spokespersons need to pass this test before being put in front of a camera. An essential skill that can be developed is voice control!

Copyright (c) 2008 Lynda Stucky

Speech and voice expert Lynda Stucky shows you how to use your voice effectively to establish credibility, position yourself within your company, and enhance your reputation as an authority in your area of expertise. She is a corporate speech pathologist who consults with business professionals on speaking to captivate, engage and inspire. http://www.clearly-speaking.com

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Want To Learn How You Can Make Millions Speaking?

By Paul Vann

How many times have you heard someone say, I want to become a professional speaker. That is not all, they go on to say, I am passionate about speaking.

If I had a dollar for every time I have heard someone said they wanted to be a speaker, I could buy a barrel of oil. Get it, buy a barrel of oil?

For the uninitiated, if you want to make millions as a professional speaker do not and I repeat, do not try to go it alone. Do not become a lone ranger and try to figure out on your own it will cost you a lot of money and aggravation.

If you want to make millions in the professional speaking industry, I recommend you hire a speaking coaching. Why?

A speaking coach will cut your learning curve in half and you can concentrate on honing your speaking skills and secure speaking engagements. Let it be said, when the student is ready the teacher will appear.

Some of the things on your checklist for finding a professional speaking coach reads as follows:

1. Research and find a speaker coach who has been where you are trying to go.

2. Request a list of clients your speaker works with, however privacy may be an issue but you can always ask.

3. Review the client list of the organizations the speaker coach works with.

4. Interview your speaking coach and ask for credentials, such as speaking schools or workshops they have attended, etc.

5. Inquire if the speaker coach has a coach, this speaks volumes of their commitment to speaking.

6. Meet with your speaker coach in person and then schedule phone, webinar, and or e-mail coaching.

7. Enroll and attend your speaker coaches training if they offer it.

8. Ensure your speaking coach gives you their professional and undivided attention during each session.

9. Become an active listener and a student of the speaking craft.

10. Ensure your coach provides a comprehensive review of your speaking abilities, including vocal variety, gestures, practice time, history of the audience, etc.

11. Request to attend your speaking coaches live events, assist them throughout their speaking engagement.

12. Fight early and often for feedback, this will make all the difference in the long run.

To be the best, meaning you want to become a million dollar speaker, you must focus on being excellent. In other words, your mandate must include practice, practice, and more practice.

The key to becoming an in demand speaker is to accept nothing less than hard work. Hard work will pay dividends in the long run and you will live your passion as a world renowned professional speaker.

When it comes to achieving success, always surround yourself with a great team of experts. You will soon discover great talent, attracts great talent, choose your team wisely and ensure you select the right speaker coach for you, it will lead to you making millions speaking.

Paul Lawrence Vann is CEO of the Wealth Building Academy, a professional speaking, training, coaching, and publishing company. He is a speaker coach who delivers a two-day live training titled, Make Millions Speaking. Vann's first speaking coach was the late Dottie Walters. Learn more about Paul's speaker coaching program at http://www.paullawrencevann.com or http://speakercoaching.blogspot.com or call the Wealth Building Academy at (800) 476-8976.

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The Importance Of Public Speaking Skills

By Alvin Loh

Public speaking skills are often overlooked by people as being unimportant or they may think that they will never be called to speak in public, that's why they do not bother to get themselves acquainted with any public speaking skills. Truth is, more often then not, it is these people that often get tongue tied and being in a state of total meltdown when faced with the possibility that they will be asked to present a topic in public, even a topic they know inside out.

To some people, they do not put high importance or regards to the importance of having good public speaking skills because they have an impression that good public speaking skills are only for people in sales or marketing. This is untrue. Good public speaking skills are also a hallmark of good communication skills and having good communication skills is essential for any career, unless you are the only person in the entire office. For example, if you are signing up for a new job, any job at all, you will probably need to go for an interview. During the interview, the interviewer does not just judge you based on your qualifications, your ability to communicate, both spoken and unspoken, also constitutes a part of the decision making process of whether you will be accepted or not. If you are a student in college, your ability to deliver a good public speaking session will also be tested on regular basis. An example of this will be the various class presentations that you need to do over the course of the semester and the grading criteria will almost certainly have an element of "clarity of delivery" in it. By not knowing how to give a clear and effective presentation using good public speaking skills will only disadvantage yourself because if you cannot communicate clearly to your audience, it is as if you have never learnt the subject at all.

This is one of the reasons perhaps why a lot of ideas by some of the most intelligent people on the planet are only discovered many years after their death. One of the possible reasons is that although they are highly intelligent and have written very useful information, they just cannot seem to put through to people what they are thinking about due to their lack of ability to communicate to a large group of people using public speaking techniques.

Public speaking skills are not only used in situation where you have to address a large group of people. Communication skills and public speaking skills are inter-related, hence, if you improve your public speaking skills, you also invariably improve your interpersonal communication skills with your peers and family.

Therefore, if you are ever presented with an opportunity to practice public speaking or learn public speaking skills, don't shy away from it. Whether you are in class, in the office or in any kind of setting that requires you to deliver a message to an audience, pick up your courage and go for it. Public speaking is a skill and the more you use it and practice it, the better you will become. To improve your public speaking skills or even if you are a new beginner, there are a lot of public speaking audiobooks or guide books to learn from. By picking up a good public speaking skill, you will have an edge over others who don't.

Alvin runs a Good Public Speaking AudioBooks website with audiobooks for overcoming fear of public speaking.

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