What Is Enjoyable About Public Speaking?: Episode #215 The Presentations Japan Series

What Is Enjoyable About Public Speaking?: Episode #215 (Audio here for multi-taskers!!) The Presentations Japan Series

For many people it may seem we are getting into oxymoron territory here.  “Public speaking…enjoyable?  You must be kidding mate”.  Many are called upon to speak and reluctantly they give their talk without talent, enthusiasm or particular motivation.  A duty, an unavoidable pain, like going back to the dentist for that root canal. As we rise in our careers, the necessity to speak in public goes right up in frequency and length.  Unfortunately, no one tells you this is what is on the cards for future you, so you are perpetually unprepared.  If we knew this was part of our unescapable future, then we would all get the training and end the misery right there.

Even for those who are sufferers, do they seek relief through getting training?  No.  They just continue blundering forward, reeking havoc wherever they go, destroying their personal and professional brands. This includes those who are devastated by nerves, quivering, pulse racing, hot flushes sweeping over their body, faces going bright red, knees knocking, stomach queasy and throat parched.  Do they get training?  No.  They just lurch from fearfulness to fearfulness, whenever they are required to speak in front of others.

What do we need to fix this.  Obviously training is one part and so is repetition.  Most speeches though are one offs, a one and done affair.  The speech has been used up for that audience, on that day and then it is shelved forever.  So how do we get repetition?  We may not get the chance to repeat the content, but we can give more talks.  To do that though we have stop hiding from the chance.  As a child in Brisbane, I watched the Three Stooges on black and white television and one of the jokes would be two of them would step back when asked to volunteer, making it appear that the other one had stepped forward, wanting to do the task.  Reluctant speakers are mentally doing the same thing.  Whenever the chance to get some repetition going comes up, they step back and let others do it.

Even if the chance to present to an audience is a one time thing, that doesn’t mean the talk is a one time thing.  If we are smart, we are giving this speech numerous times.  We do these without an audience, in private, as a rehearsal for the big event.  I competed in senior level Karate competition for many years and would never dream of going on to the mat and doing the kata or prearranged patterns, once only just for the judges.  I would be practicising for months in the Dojo, rehearsing that kata, over and over again until I dropped.  Why would putting your reputation out there in business require anything less?

By the time you hit that stage you are well practiced and confident.  Consequently your brain doesn’t release masses of chemicals preparing you for battle with a sabre toothed tiger, where you either run away or stand your ground and fight.  Consequently, come showtime you are not so nervous.  Some nerves yes, but not debilitating.

The other mental shift is to decide who this speech is about.  Not what it is about, but who it is about.  For people who hate speaking in public or become crippled with nerves, the speech is all about them.  It is about their mental trauma, induced by how they feel they will be judged by the audience and their deep fears of imminent, unmitigated disaster, about to  humiliate them for the rest of time.

We must switch the focus to the audience.  We are giving each person six seconds of eye contact, inducing that feeling in them, that they are only person in the room.  Hawk like, we are scrutinising their reaction to what we are saying.  We are judging if they are with us or do we have to push harder to bring them on board.  We are pumping out our ki (気) or intrinsic energy into the audience, to maximise our body language.  We are using congruent gestures to add lustre and power to our words.  Tonal variety, variations in speed and power engage the audience, such that they are eschewing their mobile phone’s siren call to escape to the internet.

In response, some will smile, nod, laugh at your amusing asides, follow you through the navigation of the talk.  After a while, some will start to lean into you.  It will only be a few millimetres, but what a rush that feeling is. When twenty, thirty, fifty, one hundred people start doing that at the same time, there is a powerful energy in the room. It hits you like a drug racing through your veins and leaves you looking for your next hit.  This is when public speaking surpasses duty and becomes a real pleasure.

Engaged employees are self-motivated. 

o   The self-motivated are inspired. 

o   Inspired staff grow your business 

Are you inspiring them? 

We teach leaders and organisations how to inspire their people. 

Want to know how we do that? 

Contact me at [email protected]

If you enjoy our content, then head over to www.enjapan.dalecarnegie.com and check out our Japanese and English seminars, workshops, course information and schedules and our whitepapers, guidebooks, training videos, podcasts, blogs. 

About The Author 

Dr. Greg Story, President Dale Carnegie Training Japan

The bestselling author of “Japan Sales Mastery”, and “Japan Business Mastery” Dr. Greg Story is an international keynote speaker, an executive coach, and a thought leader in the four critical areas for business people: leadership, communication, sales and presentations. 

He publishes daily blogs on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter

Has 6 weekly podcasts:

1.     Mondays -  The Leadership Japan Series,

2.    Tuesdays – The Presentations Japan Series 

Every second Tuesday - ビジネス達人の教え

3.    Wednesdays - The Sales Japan Series 

4.    Thursdays – The Leadership Japan Series

Also every second Thursday - ビジネスプロポッドキャスト

5.    Fridays - The Japan Business Mastery Show

6.    Saturdays – Japan’s Top Business Interviews

Has 3 weekly TV shows on YouTube:

1.     Mondays - The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

Also every Second Thursday - ビジネスプロTV

2.    Fridays – Japan Business Mastery

3.    Saturdays – Japan Top Business Interviews

In the course of his career Dr. Greg Story has moved from the academic world, to consulting, investments, trade representation, international diplomacy, retail banking and people development.

Growing up in Brisbane, Australia he never imagined he would have a Ph.D. in Japanese decision-making, become a 35 year veteran of Japan and run his own company in Tokyo. 

Since 1971, he has been a disciple of traditional Shitoryu Karate (糸東流) and is currently a 6th Dan. 

Bunbu Ryodo (文武両道-both pen & sword) is his mantra and he applies martial art philosophies and strategies to business.