Having fun learning public speaking skills
Posted on July 19th, 2007 in Active listening, Community, Fulfilling potential, Leadership, young people |
Over the past couple of days I have been in beautiful Perthshire with Sue Warner, founder of SpeakersBank, learning some more about the organisation an its achievements - most recently - teaching public speaking skills to young people in every secondary school in London.
A group of interested people got together to take part in a training session so that - should the opportunties arise in Scotland - there will be a team ready to jump!
Despite the fact that I new what I was going for I was surprisingly nervous. This should come as no great shock really though when public speaking ranks at the top of most polls on the most stressful things anyone can face.
But with the encouragement of Sue and a couple of her existing trainers we made impromptu speeches, lied about the meaning of words ( deliberately) and received very useful - and specific (which is the best kind) - feedback from the others.
Watch this space for information on how Speakersbank develops in Scotland but if you would like to know more about the existing programme check out the website
Please look at www.speakoutchallenge.com to find out more about the magnificent achievements of the participants in the challenge in London last month.
2 Responses
Hi,
Anyone can get nervouse when speaking in any situation. I have been teaching public speaking for years, and I still get nervous on occassions. Nervousness is not always bad. It can help us focus on what we are doing.
A great way to reduce the effects of nervousness is to simply remember to breathe. Breathing slowly and deeply will help calm your body and make public spekaing easier.
Cheers
Darren Fleming
Australias Public Speaking coach
http://www.executivespeaking.com.au
Thanks for your kind words of encouragement Darren. It is good to hear that from someone who makes a living from speaking!
The aim is to facilitate young people to learn public speaking skills and then get out there and be heard. I will need to be the voice of experience in that role - but I will be happy to share my story to make sure that they understand that I am human - just like them