Speech 8: The Six Basic Fears According To Napoleon Hill

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012

If you’re having trouble deciding what to write about, recycle. Take a look at what’s popular with your audience. If you blog, that’s easy because your analytics will tell you.

Here’s an example of recycling the six basic fears that Napoleon Hill identified in 1937. I wrote a blog post in 2008 that’s still read daily. That shows ongoing appeal. I decided create a new speech based on the content.

Too Much

How do you squeeze six fears into a 5-7 minute speech? If you go into detail, you’ll run out of time. If you’re too high level, what will the audience benefit? You could spend more time on selected fears and skim the rest.

Since our fears vary, I didn’t want to bore the audience with my interpretations. I wanted them to think about their own fears and then take preventative steps. I also wanted to use very few words to allow them time to think.

Since Speech 8 requires the use of visual aids, I found a solution: photos. The right images speak for themselves and leave a lasting impact. I spent hours to find free stock photos that would not violate copyright or require credits. I replaced several that weren’t simple enough or powerful enough.

To engage the audience, I asked them to jot down the fears they thought would make the list. I showed the fears in reverse order from #6 to #1 and paused before #1 to give the audience a chance to revise their guesses. To make fear #1 stick, I added a story.

Studio Recording

Since preparing a speech takes time, why discard your work right when you’re most practiced? I made this studio recording.



There have been 74 views already. That’s larger than the live audience — another reason to record.

More Recycling

You can recycle your recycling. I inserted the video back into the original blog post. Visitors can now watch or read or both.

What do you think about the content, delivery or approach?

Links

• The six basic fears from 70 years ago (Riscario Insider, Feb 2008)
• Control the fear of public speaking
• Preplan all your speeches

Promod Sharma is President 2011-2012 and — have no fear — an actuary. You’ll find more details on LinkedIn.

Control The Fear Of Public Speaking

by Barbara Berezowski

Did you know that even experienced public speakers feel their heart thumping at an accelerated rate of speed? Speaking in public is a fear that many individuals have. You’re not alone. It’s normal to feel those butterflies. It is a normal physical reaction as there is a release of adrenaline and cortisol into your system. It’s like drinking several cups of coffee.

Speaking in public is truly scary for most people, including the experts. They may give the impression that they are very composed, but believe me, even they experience the same feelings. You can learn to control and manage these feelings. The key is in the preparation.

Good presentations skills and public speaking skills are very useful in many aspects of work and life. These skills are important in business, sales and selling, training, teaching, lecturing and generally entertaining an audience.

Therefore, improving the confidence and capability to give good presentations, and to stand up in front of an audience and speak well, are valuable self-development tools. Like most things, it simply takes preparation and practice to improve your skills and abilities.

If you are frightened to speak in front of a large group, just remember that you can control your fears by being prepared. It is the fear of the unknown that holds us back. With knowledge and practice, you will find confidence in yourself.

“Understanding our fears is the first and most important step to conquering them. As the saying goes, don't try to get rid of the butterflies — just get them flying in formation.” — Unknown

The Toastmasters organization is a wonderful environment to develop your presentation skills. Locate a local club like Goodyear Toastmasters and attend a meeting as a guest. During your first few meetings, you can choose to participate as much or as little as you want. You may find it more comfortable to just sit back and watch until you are ready to jump in. That’s ok too. Whatever your comfort level, you will find a group of individuals who — just like you — are there for the same reasons.

With practice, you will learn how to deliver solid presentations and make a good impression on your audience. It is a very nurturing environment. Your fellow Toastmasters are there to help you succeed. You never have to fear that anyone would laugh at you. They will help you blossom into something very special. You will develop great communication skills and have fun during the process.

Change the nervous energy to enthusiasm.

Remember: the audience is on your side. They want you to succeed. They want to enjoy themselves and they want to see you enjoying yourself too. All you have to do is DO IT!
 

Links

• Revisiting New Year's Resolutions
• The six basic fears according to Napoleon Hill
• How to discuss taboo topics
• image courtesy of Lieven Volckaert (Belgium)

Barbara Berezowski is an Olympian, Hall of Fame Inductee and inspirational speaker. You’ll find more at www.bberezowski.com.

Turbocharge Your Club With Social Media

Toastmasters International District 60 holds two conferences each year. Getting selected to speak is an achievement. Promod Sharma and Jonathan Holowka collaborated on an interactive session on social media. You’ll find the live recording below along with a description of the session. The content is also well-suited to other nonprofit clubs.

A healthy club engages members, attracts guests and nurtures the community. Social media enables all that and more. What works? What’s right for your club? How do you decide what to do, get started and keep going? Find out from the real-life experiments at Goodyear Toastmasters.

Meetup, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and a blog help your club thrive in ways your website can never match. You’ll learn how to harness social media in this fully interactive session.
 

Why Bother?

The magic that happens in club meetings vanishes forever. Where is the record of past speeches, lessons and Table Topics? We deprive members and guests — past, present and future. Thanks to social media, we can easily share text, audio and video. For free.

When used well, social media:

1. makes your club easier to find online
2. strengthens the initial impression
3. leaves a lasting impact

You can even help those unable to attend.

You have many options to explore and limited time. There’s Meetup, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and blogging. What about Facebook and Google+? Mistakes are easy to make and difficult to erase. Yet hiding from social media is even worse.

Goodyear Toastmasters, a community club, has been experimenting to see what works. Use their findings to get better results faster and with less effort.

As Toastmasters, we know that feedback helps us grow. Social media gives you analytics to show trends and what’s working now.

As a side benefit, you’ll create a living legacy for your club.

• Engaged members are retained members
• Attracted guests are attractive guests
• A nurtured community is a stronger community

Video

Here is a live recording of the session which took place on November 12, 2011. Jonathan wrote about a related blog post: How to get started with social media. It’s worth reading first.

Links

• How to get started with social media (byeka.ca, Nov 2011)
• Creating your club’s living legacy
• The painless way to blog
• How much time does social media take in a week? (marketingactuary.com, Sep 2011) 
• Are you sick of social media too? (marketingactuary.com, Dec 2011)

Jonathan Holowka is VP Membership 2011-2012 and a social media specialist. You’ll find more details at byeka.com.

Promod Sharma is President 2011-2012 and an actuary. You’ll find more details at promodsharma.com.

The Painless Way To Blog

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012 [Blog Editor]

Blogging may seem intimidating at first but don't worry. As a member of Goodyear Toastmasters, the details get handled for you. All you do is draft content suitable for a general audience.

Guidelines

Write a post that's at least 300 words. That may seem like a lot but that's just a few minutes of talking. We talk effortlessly all day long (or know people who do). Writing takes more work but is within your grasp.

You can write using a free text editor like WordPad or a blogging app like Windows Live Writer (download page). You don’t need a heavy-duty tool like Microsoft Word but can use that if you’d like. If you have an iPad, iA Writer is excellent (see how to write better and faster).

Identification

Don't you want credit for your posts? Include your name and a sentence or two about yourself. You can include a link to your website or LinkedIn profile, if you like.

Send a photo too. Larger is better. The photo will be cropped and reduced to 100x100 pixels.
If you're reluctant to use your real name, you're free to use a pseudonym or maybe just your first name.

Editing

When you're satisfied, email your draft to the Blog Editor. You're done. If the changes are minor, you won't be notified.

If the changes are more extensive, you'll be contacted with suggestions. This can be a valuable learning process. Speaking has "crutchwords". Writing does too. You might be using passive verbs, complicated words or lengthy sentences. In the beginning, the editing will be minor and get more detailed as you get better. Isn't that exactly what happen when you progress through your speeches?

Posting

Your post will be scheduled for publication. For an instant notification when it goes live, Follow @gytm81 on Twitter. To get a copy of every post, subscribe. It’s all free.

As you get comfortable with the process, you’re welcome to become a regular contributor. You might even decide to start your own blog. That could change your life …

Frequency

You can blog as frequently as you like. The risk is getting burned out. Start with one post for now. Maybe you can commit to one per month? That's just a word per day!

Start

The goal is to publish every post but the Blog Editor decides. Some ideas may not suit the tone of our blog. In that case, you'll be notified. You may wish to make changes or publish elsewhere (e.g., another site or your own blog).

To participate, send your creation to something to the Blog Editor. How about today?

Links

• Revisiting New Year’s Resolutions
• Revitalizing this blog
• Image courtesy of jaylopez (Philippines)

Preplan All Your Speeches

by Promod Sharma, President 2011-2012

If you're in Toastmasters, you probably want to speak better. As a new member, it's easy to get overwhelmed with everything going on in the meetings. You can simplify your life with simple planning.

To become a Competent Communicator (CC), you'll give 10 speeches. Why not plan the topics now? Brainstorm. Jot down at least 10 things you'd like to talk about. If you’re stumped for ideas, consider topics you know well: hobbies, personal experiences or work-related items.

Now, look at the focus of each speech and assign your speech ideas. For example, you may love taking photos of birds. Speech 8 focuses on using visual aids. Maybe that's a good fit for a speech about birds. Do you get the idea?

You'll need to decide on your topics some time. Why not at the outset? If you've read The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, this is #2: Begin with the end in mind.

You needn't finish your list in one sitting and you can make changes later. You now have a workable path through your speech manual.

Example

Here’s the plan I formulated before my first speech.(It's a simple table made with Microsoft Word.)

#	Theme	Length	Title	Date
1	The Ice Breaker	4-6 min	Born At An Early Age (my life … so far)	Dec 9, 2010
2	Organize Your Speech	5-7 min	Your Everlasting Orchard (how to grow your network on LinkedIn)	Jan 13, 2011
3	Get To The Point	5-7 min	Saving The Government Way (going beyond three common ways to save)	Jan 20, 2011
4	How To Say It	5-7 min	How To Choose An Advisor You Trust (the three key elements)	Feb 24, 2011
5	Your Body Speaks	5-7 min	Body Movin’ (challenges with body language)	Jul 7, 2011
6	Vocal Variety	5-7 min	Drive Your Voice (tips to prepare your voice)	Sep 15, 2011
7	Research Your Topic	5-7 min	The High Cost Of Dementia Four Steps To Lasting Wealth	Nov 24, 2011
8	Get Comfortable With Visual Aids	5-7 min	Ideas (each using PowerPoint) 1. Do You Market Like It's 1999? 2. The Changing Face Of Trust 3. The Six Basic Fears From 1937
9	Persuade With Power	5-7 min	Ideas 1. Get An Insurance Review 2. Live A Low Noise Life
10	Inspire Your Audience	8-10 min	Start Leaving Your Legacy Now

This list is flexible. For Speech 7, I changed to a more uplifting topic. For #8 and #9, I’ve yet to decide. At least I have a shortlist. That alone saves time and gives peace of mind.

What do you think?

You’ll find more than you want to know about Promod with a Google search.