Key One of The Two Keys to Speaking Success is Confidence. You have to have confidence in yourself, confidence in your subject matter, confidence in your physical appearance, confidence in all the little details that make a speech successful. However, without Key Two - you are finished before you arrive at the venue!
A little background first. At the close of my junior year in college, I needed an easy A. Been there? I was solidly in my major and needed a break in the schedule. I decided to get that break, and the easy A by enrolling in Drama 101. I was thinking, "How hard can it be? I was in the theatre troop at my previous college before transferring."
The first assignment was a soliloquy from The Rainmaker (the movie starred Burt Lancaster and Katherine Hepburn, def worth a watch). Since I had seen the movie, and as you'll recall I had no shortage of confidence, I figured once again, "How hard can it be?" I found out.
A little more background will help set the scene: I was in a fraternity at the time, and was dressed like the stereotypical frat (broadcloth button down, khakis, and topsiders / you get the picture). On the other hand, and all of my Drama classmates were Drama Majors who loathed frat rats. Not much of a warm greeting on the first day of class.... (insert sound of crickets)
On the day of my long-anticipated performance I choked. Not just the, "Hey Honey, couldn't you have cleaned the bones out of the fish?" kind of choke. No, this was the Nuclear Choke. The professor had to hand-feed me my lines! It was the longest seven minutes in recorded history. To top off the humiliation, my classmates, the Drama Queens and Drama Kings, laughed at me...openly. Yes, I was made to feel their scorn!
I swore that embarrassment would never happen to me again. Ever! Key Two to Speaking Success is Practice.
For the rest of that semester, I was a fraternally pledged, rehearsing maniac! My confidence soared each class as I showed up just as prepared as my classmates, and delivered. In a two-person treatment written by H.P. Lovecraft, I actually did better than my Drama major partner as voted upon by my classmates, and their applause was oh so sweet!
Since then, I practice using the Performance Method (see The 'Jerry' Method post), and practice, and practice, and practice some more. I do not show up unprepared, ever.
When a speaker combines their own confidence (Key One) with sufficient practice (Key Two), speaking success is all but guaranteed. These two keys can overcome a surly crowd, technical glitches, props that don't work, and LCD projectors that don't project. I live by them, and hope you will as well.
Fearlessly,
JD
Showing posts with label two keys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label two keys. Show all posts
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Two Keys to Speaking Success, Key One
My lifetime of speaking has provided invaluable insights, shortcuts, work-arounds, and band-aids. Don't get me wrong and think even for a second that I believe I have learned all there is to know. Far from it. Each time I speak, there is something to be gleaned, and stored for future use. With that in mind, you may yet take the following to the bank.
There are two keys to speaking success. Upon these two keys all successful speeches are built. Without these two keys, the greatest material, the friendliest crowd, a venue's amazing acoustics, or a sold-out show will not help you as you crash and burn in front of all God's children! Yikes!
The focus of today's blog is Key One in The Two Keys to Speaking Success. It is a key that works in concert with Key Two, as these two keys feed off one another. It can be developed, part of your DNA, or come to you rather organically over time, but it must be present for the good speech to become great.
Key One in The Two Keys to Speaking Success is Confidence. Without confidence most personal endeavors miss the mark of excellence. We all are subject to a greater exposure to failure when we operate without confidence. It is confidence that allows us to take the stage fearlessly. It is confidence that compels us to take a speaking gig with only two days to prepare. And it is confidence that puts our audiences at ease and allows them to trust us.
When teaching 'The Two Keys' I provide the background on where my own confidence came from. It originated from an outing at the lake with my folks when I was about six years old. On this particular weekend, my Mom and Dad had asked me to tell a joke. There were three or four families camping together that weekend, and most of the adults stopped what they were doing to hear the joke.
We all know the humor of a six-year old is not terribly sophisticated, but they laughed! Most likely they were just being polite, but hearing that laughter made me feel great. It gave me confidence. Quite obviously my parents had already laid the groundwork for this success in how I was being reared, but that is the moment I readily identify as the beginning of my confidence as a speaker.
From that point on, I had confidence that my voice was worth hearing. I performed in elementary school plays, volunteered to be on stage for high school fund raisers, was a DJ in college, and with two days to prepare preached a revival sermon in a church, city, and country where I'd never been before. Confidence: It is Key One in The Two Keys to Speaking Success.
Fearlessly,
JD
There are two keys to speaking success. Upon these two keys all successful speeches are built. Without these two keys, the greatest material, the friendliest crowd, a venue's amazing acoustics, or a sold-out show will not help you as you crash and burn in front of all God's children! Yikes!
The focus of today's blog is Key One in The Two Keys to Speaking Success. It is a key that works in concert with Key Two, as these two keys feed off one another. It can be developed, part of your DNA, or come to you rather organically over time, but it must be present for the good speech to become great.
Key One in The Two Keys to Speaking Success is Confidence. Without confidence most personal endeavors miss the mark of excellence. We all are subject to a greater exposure to failure when we operate without confidence. It is confidence that allows us to take the stage fearlessly. It is confidence that compels us to take a speaking gig with only two days to prepare. And it is confidence that puts our audiences at ease and allows them to trust us.
When teaching 'The Two Keys' I provide the background on where my own confidence came from. It originated from an outing at the lake with my folks when I was about six years old. On this particular weekend, my Mom and Dad had asked me to tell a joke. There were three or four families camping together that weekend, and most of the adults stopped what they were doing to hear the joke.
We all know the humor of a six-year old is not terribly sophisticated, but they laughed! Most likely they were just being polite, but hearing that laughter made me feel great. It gave me confidence. Quite obviously my parents had already laid the groundwork for this success in how I was being reared, but that is the moment I readily identify as the beginning of my confidence as a speaker.
From that point on, I had confidence that my voice was worth hearing. I performed in elementary school plays, volunteered to be on stage for high school fund raisers, was a DJ in college, and with two days to prepare preached a revival sermon in a church, city, and country where I'd never been before. Confidence: It is Key One in The Two Keys to Speaking Success.
Fearlessly,
JD
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)