Be Conversational! The Key to Speaking with Ease

Yesterday at the "Become the Star You Are" TeleClinic, we talked about how to be as comfortable talking to a whole gaggle of folks as you are when talking to your best friend over a cup of coffee.

One of the keys is to be conversational. You don’t have to speak in some fancy, formal way when you’re talking to a group. You can be casual and conversational. In fact, it’s inviting and friendly when you do, AND you will feel so much more at ease!

Carla Kimball of River Way Enterprises says it perfectly in her e-newsletter. Here’s an excerpt from her "C is for Conversation" issue she sent to me back in May:

"I believe that much of the fear and anxiety associated with public speaking comes from how we choose to think about it.  If we think of it as a speech or a presentation we have to make  to an audience, we create all kinds of expectations for ourselves.  We have to be brilliant, show that we know our stuff, entertain  them, motivate and inspire them, keep them interested…

 "…What if you thought of it as a conversation rather than a presentation?  What if you simply spoke to one person at a time, whether you have  4 people in your audience or 400? Even if you are doing all the  talking, there is an energetic exchange that can happen if you are  open to it."

Carla is right on the money when she says that our fear and anxiety is directly related to how we choose to think about it (public speaking).

Remember, there’s no such thing as public speaking. There’s just speaking. And we do it all day long! Some wise guy said that somewhere. (In fact, if you know who said that, would you let me know? I’d love to give him full credit).

If you remember that speaking in front of a group can be as easy and natural and conversational as the kind of speaking you do all day long, you will start to challenge some of those old ways of thinking. Those old ways of thinking that aren’t serving you very well anymore.

You can sign up for Carla’s newsletter (which I’m really enjoying) at her website:
http://www.riverways.com/