This guide belongs to 100 Ways To Be Being Remarkable  Series, a special project that brings you business and self-development advice from The Success Manual.

THE BEST PUBLIC SPEAKING RULE OF ALL TIME
This will boost your confidence like no other.

“Imagine they are all naked.”

The most important lessons I’ve learned from public speaking are to only speak about topics you are passionate about and to tell personal stories.
- Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh

According to most studies, people's number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that sound right? This means to the average person, if you go to a funeral, you're better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.
- Jerry Seinfeld

Pay special attention to speaking in public.
- Andrew Carnegie

If I'm to speak for ten minutes, I need a week for preparation, if fifteen minutes, three days, if half an hour, two days, if an hour, I am ready now.
- Woodrow Wilson

Oratory is the power of beating down your adversary's arguments, and putting better in their place.
- Samuel Johnson

I fear I cannot make an amusing speech. I have just been reading a book which says that 'all geniuses are devoid of humour.
—Stephen Spender

I have never failed to convince an audience that the best thing they could do was to go away
- Thomas Love Peacock

In public speaking, start by telling them what you're going to tell them. Then tell them. Finally, tell them what you've already told them.
- Lee Iacocca

A good speech has a good beginning and a good ending, both of which are kept very close together.
- Anon

The aim is not more gods for people to buy, but more opportunities for them to live.
- Lewis Mumford

I walked past and saw people queuing, so I decided to queue too.
- A Shopper , in a survey

HOW TO SPEAK WELL IN PUBLIC
Brief version: Know your audience: their interests, attention span). Know your own capabilities, Can you deliver a joke? Keep it Simple (The ‘KISS’ principle), Detailed information is best given in Print; Speeches should deliver concepts and motivate.

1. Come armed with some effective relaxation techniques if you are prone to panic.
Meditating before speech; deep breathing exercises, or medicine such as Inderal that fend off hyperventilation.

2. Slow everything down.
Control your nerves by deep breathing and talking slowly. Apart from simple deep breathing in private (even before a stressful meting), you can relax by making faces in the washroom mirror – this reduces tension effectively.

3. Warm up your voice before you go.
Keep your mouth loose – as if you were in your dentist’s chair, when a conversation is starting to annoy you ( in meetings )

4.“Take the stage” before you speak
Capture attention first by giving people time to look at you before they listen.

5. Don’t tell jokes just for the heck of it
If you can’t maintain composure like a comedian, then more so. An anecdote from personal experience is better.

6. Don’t read your speech
It’s monotonous and it exposes you to disaster if you are missing a page or a Teleprompter breaks. Instead, outline what you want to say and jot down key words or phrases. Speak to the audience conversationally. Bill Clinton is the ideal person to emulate.

7. Don’t scan the room
The sheer size of the audience will overload your senses- you will fell overwhelmed. Keep your eyes focused one person or thing at a time and move across the room that way.

8. Watch your movements
Don’t prowl the room like a hungry tiger, sway from side to side or stand rigidly. Take a few deliberate steps to release some nervous energy if you have to.

9. Don’t grin, pout or frown
Use ‘likeable’ and ‘trustworthy’ expressions’. Pretend you are talking to a baby or your dog.

10. Avoid pompous words that you wouldn’t use in cocktail party conversations
Like, “paradigm”, “pragmatic”, “interface” and “ exacerbate”.

11. Use positive statements
Use “ I’ll always remember” instead of ‘ I’ll never forget”.

12. When answering a hostile question, introduce another topic
One the listener is passionate about.

13. Always remember the party rule
Giving speeches is like giving parties. At parties, the best way to overcome shyness is by acting like a host. Remember, your role as the speaker is to make everybody in the room feel comfortable.


All the great speakers were bad speakers first.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

14. About Your Body Language
Stand with your feet a little bit apart and try to occupy as much space as possible. Don’t glance constantly. It creates a situation in which nobody really feels connected to what you are saying.

15. Strive to be bolder
Be bold about ideas, tentative about people. Always say “ I have a plan that I think will solve these problems”. This way you are not attacking people. You are being bold with an idea.

16. Make your voice “hilly” as you speak
If you change your tone and pitch, you will keep your audience engaged.

17. Feeling upset? Close to tears?
Breathe, Breathe, Breathe. Repeat the “Nothing lasts for ever” mantra.
In presentations, convey points clearly and concisely, or you will lose your audience.

18. In meetings,
Listen with attention, as an actor would do. Develop the “listening muscle” – nod occasionally

Be open to new ideas.

Listen with attention, as an actor would do. Develop the “listening muscle” – nod occasionally

Be open to new ideas.

If you find yourself walking _backwards_, you are probably pacing very vigorously. Stop. Breathe.

If you don't make eye contact with your audience, you make it that much harder for the to connect to your message.
- Duncan Davidson

SPEAKING IN TOUGH SITUATIONS

1. Relax
- Take deep breaths
- Take a second and give yourself a positive and affirming message
- Imagine that the audience is naked
- Clench invisible muscles (thighs, biceps, feet) for a few seconds and release.

2. Listen
- Look directly at the questioner
- Observe his body language as well as what is being spoken
- Think: what is being suggested by the question or request?
- Is this an attack, a legitimate request for more information, or a test?
- Why is this person asking this and what is the intention?

Tip: The questioner is asking a question because he or she is interested in a positive way. Or, he wants to see you squirm.

Either way, you are prepared.

3. Use Stall Tactics to get some time

A. Have the Question Repeated
This gives you a bit more time to think about your response.

B. Repeat the question yourself. Get time to rephrase or clarify the question.
" How did I give the order for extra pencils to make sure our customers had a continued positive experience during the survey?"

C. Narrow the focus. Ask a question of your own to not only clarify, but to bring the question down to manageable scope.
"You're interested in hearing how I've considered revenue impacts. What impacts are you most interested in: more profits or better customer service?"

D. Ask for clarification. Forcing the questioner to be more specific and (hopefully) get more to specific point.

"When you say you want to know how I've analyzed budgetary impacts, do you mean you want detailed analysis or a list of the tools and methods I used?"

E. Ask for a definition. A chance to do away with problematic Jargon and specific terminology.

4. Use Silence to your advantage
- Sometimes, being silent during tough moments communicates that you are in control of your thoughts and confident in your ability to answer expertly.

5. Stick to one point and one supporting piece of information
When we are nervous and under pressure, we blurt out more than we should.

- Be focused.
- Try to give an answer that is neither too short nor too long.
- If you don't know the answer, say so.

6. Prepare for ‘what – ifs’

- Every Job position has some tough scenarios.
- What are the most difficult questions that people might ask?
- Prepare and rehearse good answers to them.

7. Practice Clear delivery
How you say it is almost as important as what you say.
Phrases like "umm" or "ah" make others doubt you.

8. Summarize and stop.
- Wrap up your response with a quick summary statement.
- Use words to indicate you are summarizing (i.e. "in conclusion," "finally").
- Or briefly restate the question and your answer.
- simpleguide

WIT
“Wit consists in seeing the resemblance between things which differ, and the difference between things which are alike”
- Madame de Stael

- How can a man go eight days without sleep? No Problems, he sleeps at night.
- How can you lift an elephant with one hand? It is not a problem, since you will never find an elephant with one hand.
- If you had three apples and four oranges in one hand and four apples and three oranges in the other hand, what would you have? Very large hands.
- What happened when wheel was invented ? It caused a revolution.
- Bay of Bengal is in which state? Liquid.
- What looks like half apple? The other half.
- What can you never eat for breakfast? Dinner.
- If you throw a red stone into the blue sea what it will become? It will Wet or Sink as simple as that.

IMPROMPTU SPEAKING

1. Pros/Cons method: Pick out pros and cons of the subject at hand. "On one hand..."/"On the other hand...“

2. The History method: Start with "In the past..." and then "Now, time have changed..."

3. The USP method: If you know you subject inside out, list out the unique selling propositions.

4. The Getting Personal method: Charm the audiences by enforcing a personal stake in
your talk. "When I was young, they used to say that...“

5. The Audience flirt method: Pick someone from the audience. Let him introduce himself. Weave your talk around him.

6. The Self Deprecating method: Make fun of yourself - "For an idiot like me..."

7. The Joker method: Pepper you talk with jokes.

8. The 'Know it all" method: Take inspiration from all you know or relate what you know to the topic at hand - use historical figures, things you have learnt on the Discovery channel, quotes from great people, the classics, great literature, movies...

Tip: People like it best if you can weave in historical dates and incidents into your talk.

The PREP Method of Impromptu Speaking

P : Point
State your point to the question.

R : Reason
State a reason/s why you raised your point.

E : Example
Give an illustration which supports your above-mentioned case.

P : Prep
Which leads us to the next point.

THE JOURNALIST’S METHOD
You are telling a Story. Revisit the reporting basics:

5 Ws: Who? What? Where? When? Why?

H: How
- Source: simpleguide

HOW TO SPEAK AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE LIKE BARRACK OBAMA

A reporter writes about the Obama in the year 2000:

…I never heard him launch into the preacher-man voice he now employs during speeches. He sounded vanilla, and activists in his mostly black district often chided him for it.

The point is, yes, you too can become a great Orator like Barrack Obama. If you can speak well in public, which means you can move the masses, just as Obama is doing in America right now. Good public speaking is very useful in your business or political career.

Here is a short list of ingredients in the Barrack Obama public speaking toolbox, using which he moves and influences people:

[The quotes are excerpts from Obama’ speeches]

Create a catchy slogan

“Yes we can, yes we can!”

Create catchy phrases
They do not necessarily have to be meaningful, just more ad-like:

We are the hope of the future. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek

Repeat words

You have done what the cynics said we couldn’t do. You have done what the state of New Hampshire can do in five days. You have done what America can do in this new year.

Repeat slogan or key phrase at end of sentences

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can. It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can. It was sung by immigrants as they struck out for distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can

Join words that start with similar sounds
This is also known as alliteration.

“We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics”
Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?

An example of alliteration from Wikipedia: “Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Pepper”.

The Wikipedia entry also says that “books aimed at young readers often use alliteration, as it consistently captures children’s interest.”

No wonder Obama is so popular among young Americans.

Bring hope and other powerful images into your words
In his speech after his surprise defeat in the New Hampshire primaries, Obama sounded so hopeful that you would have thought you were listening to a winner’s speech:

We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change… We have been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope

Solid and Vibrant body language
1. Eye contact: When he answers questions, Obama maintains strong eye contact, even if the questions are tough.
2. Keep still and do not fidget or shake your head: Obama is unflappable even during the toughest of debates.
3. Lean forward when you are sitting: it is a more engaging pose to display.
4. Walk the talk: if you are good with words, back that up with a dynamic and strong outward personality.

Follow the best practices in speech making:

1. Change the pitch and tone of your words.

2. Change the speed at which you are speaking: sometimes fast, and then slowing down, often within the same sentence or paragraph – Obama often pauses at important moments to relay punch it in.

3. Change the volume at which you speak: You can use it create the crescendo effect, Example from Obama:
“We are one nation. We are one people. And our time for change has come.”

4. Emphasize on key words: Apart from Barack Obama, actor Christopher Walken is perhaps the best example of how people put emphasis on certain words

Learn from the best
Obama was not a great speaker, not even a good speaker before he got into politics. He started by learning from the preachers and many have noticed Obama’s preacher-like lofty sermons. Obama has made no secret of him being an admirer of Martin Luther King Jr., a great Orator and motivator of people, famous for his “I have a dream” speech.

Great Orators like Obama who were U.S. Presidents
Ronald Reagon, John F. Kennedy Bill Clinton
- Source: simpleguide.newslok.com

Also Read
How to be a great communicator
A simple guide to becoming a Great Listener
How To Talk Well and Impress Everyone
The Networker's Bible: 75+ tips on connecting and influencing people
How to be remarkable #51: Be a great public speaker
Body Language simple, very simple

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