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  Fear of Public Speaking

  Public Speaking is ranked one of the top fears in the country and unbelievably, is ranked higher than the fear of death. This SkillBite contains the key ingredients to help those people who are terrified of public speaking overcome their fear.

  My first experience with public speaking was a nightmare. I worked in the travel industry for a few years and I was attending a travel trade show dinner as a representative of the charter company I worked for. At that point in my life I had been in the industry for a few years so I thought of myself as a subject matter expert when it came to chartered vacations. Picture this…

  I was sitting at a table with approximately nine other travel professionals eating dinner when one of my fellow travel agents asked about the prize my company was going to be presenting as our give away during the dinner. I stopped mid bite (fork in mouth) and thought to myself prize, what prize? We were practically out of business. So I remained calm and blurted out a “faux” prize and I kept on eating while my mind was racing.

  Did I really have to speak in front of all of these people? Why didn‟t anyone tell me that I was going to have to do this? I wasn‟t prepared! I anxiously waited for my turn to speak to approximately 500 travel professionals about our company, our product, and our faux prize. When I walked up to the stage and stood there with the microphone and I looked out towards the crowd I experienced many of the symptoms people get when they have a fear of public speaking.
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  That evening my symptoms included blindness, perspiration, accelerated heart beat and dry mouth. When I opened my mouth to speak I said my entire speech backwards (or so I thought). It was the longest one minute of my life. I thought I was going to pass out right there in front of everyone. After I was finished I walked back to my table, checked my armpits for sweat rings (they went right through my navy blue suit) and when I sat down I began to explain to my peers what had just happened. To my amazement my peers had no idea that I was so nervous and they advised that they did not notice anything out of the ordinary.

  In this booklet, I will help you become a better public speaker. I will review the importance of having a stellar introduction and conclusion and how to make that happen. I will review the ABCs of public speaking, which are: Approach, Attitude, Audience, Big, Bold, Brief, Concise, and Creative. I will review the two main types of speeches: informative and persuasive and how to write them effectively. Lastly, I will review the importance of preparation and practice. I cannot stress this last sentence enough – preparation and practice are key to an effective speech.

  This eBook is an introduction to the concepts that are essential to develop your public speaking skills. Most of us enter the workforce or college without any formal training in public speaking, so if you have a fear of public speaking it is perfectly rational. For most people this is simply the fear of the unknown. It is tough to stand up in front of a group of people and present a speech if you have never learned anything about public speaking or speech writing.
• About the Author
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  Kelly Pettis is a Senior Consultant at RCC Associates, a full service human resources consulting and training firm. She started working with RCC Associates as an intern in 2008. Prior to joining RCC Associates, she served as an HR Manager and Senior Education Coordinator for Sky University, an online continuing education provider for insurance professionals. She also worked for Sanofi Pasteur as a member of the Global Travel Management team. Kelly is an adjunct Professor and has taught a variety of courses in Management, Communication and Public Speaking. Kelly is a graduate of DeSales University, where she earned a B.A. in Human Resource Management and a Master‟s Degree from Seton Hall University in Strategic Communication and Leadership.

  Kelly can be contacted via email at Kelly@rccassoc.com. She is a member of LinkedIn and can be found at http://www.linkedin.com/in/kp352010 and you can follow her on twitter at KellyP_RCC.

$4.95