Being called to deliver a public speech can be a terrifying thing ( I know this from personal experience when I was much younger and I used to go to extremes to avoid having to speak to people I had met on an earlier occasion -- forget about giving a talk before any audience.) But as Dale Carnegie and other professinal speakers say: This fear can be overcome -- if you can just visualize yourself up there making a successful presentation. And of course, just like a swinner or other athlete, you not only study and learn the principles of effective presentations but also practice them regularly.
It is all really just like learning to ride a bicycle. At first you fall off and get a few bruises as you master the techniques and rules and then you get steadily better and get to love the challenge and rewards of your efforts.
Athletes use such visualization before competing in the Olympics and other events. And it does work. Since my younger years when younger years when I used to do such things as cross over the street to avoid having to speak with new acquaintances and stuttered like a machine gun I have gone on to give hundreds of public presentations from readings to talks up to an hour long and participate in live skits in front of audiences of hundreds of persons over the years. And I have found visualization and other techniques invaluable in helping me accomplish this.
Now, in this blog I would like to share some of the things I have learned with others in the possibility that they might helps others in their public speaking roles.
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