Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

CommentGo Back

Download

“Public Speaking” vs “Speaking in Public”

About a year ago I decided to produce a video blog dealing with Public Speakingissues in America, in particular, the resistance to “Public Speaking.” I wasappalled at the consistently reported statistics stating that 60-70% of Americansadmit their number one fear is “Fear of Speaking.” And so they don

t… Speak.The implication of those stats for me was the apparent fact that about two thirdsof all Americans don

t participate in public conversations. Not for themselves, northeir community, nor their country. How appalling is that?Well, I thought, I overcame my speaking fears, stage-fright, speaking anxiety…pick your favorite term, and have gone on to work professionally in media inAmerica and Japan. I

m a member of both the Screen Actors Guild and AFTRAwhich are a kind of professional rubber stamps. So I researched the state ofPublic Speaking offerings on the web, and found

billions

of sites catering to theneeds of people who want, or out of necessity need, to Speak at public forums.Great! I thought.An opportunity to make a difference. I designed my blog around Wordpress,learned the tech necessary to manipulate video for the web, purchased mydomain and was off. Odd actually, that more than 20 years after attending ﬁlmschool, I ﬁnally got around to employing the training, well, some of it. Things dochange after all. Anyway,I had taught English at a school in Tokyo for awhile, but that didn

t ﬁt me. Later Iwas offered the opportunity to become an advisor to a Japanese Corporation thathad an International Division. I embraced this opportunity to Coach/Train/Advisethe members of this Division in preparation for business trips to North Americaand Australia. It was to last a month or two, but eight years later I was stilladvising, coaching, and training once a week. Surprised me.With my own self-development experience overcoming my “Fear” plus theextended time spent teaching both English and Presentation skills, I felt uniquelyqualiﬁed to help people overcome their “Fear.” My web research revealed:

some information that I disagreed with, some that I thought was plain wrong, andmuch that I could agree with but would present differently. And so I began postingat the end of March 2010. Alas,The results, nine months worth, are on the web for all to see attomjdolan.com.But a curious thing happened this past summer. A staff member at a localuniversity suggested at the end of a conversation, as I was exiting the ofﬁce:“Why don

t you just teach a class in Public Speaking.” Hmmm...I left the building, crossed the boulevard, ordered an espresso at the localStarbucks and considered that bit of advice. Well, I thought, why not?By September, I had 3 classes, I call them Workshops, set up at two Colleges, tobe completed by Thanksgiving. And it was in those Workshops that more wasrevealed about people and their “Fear of Speaking” than I was ever going tounearth from the web in any reasonable amount of time. Now don

t get mewrong, I really see the value of web connections and social media, but I

mconvinced that nothing trumps face-to-face interaction for building relationshipsand observing behavior. To be sure,Those interactive workshops taught me lessons, as I taught my lessons. One thatI want to share with you is this: there is a difference between “Public Speaking”and “Speaking in Public.” Simplistic? Yes and No.When you think of “Public Speaking”, what comes to mind? Standing in front of agroup, on a stage, behind a lectern, on a podium, speaking into a microphone,delivering a Powerpoint or Keynote presentation? All of that and all of theirvariations. Now,On the other hand, what comes to mind when you consider “Speaking in Public?”Answering a question in a classroom or seminar, standing up in a communitymeeting and disagreeing with the committee chairman, suggesting your solutionto a problem vexing a volunteer group where you

re a member, starting a conversation at a meeting, dinner party, or networking event? A litany of neverending real life possibilities.

of 00

"Public Speaking vs Speaking in Public"

Public Speaking and Speaking in Public are not the same thing. I learned that through teaching Public Speaking in local Los Angeles Colleges. It's an important difference, find ... (More)

Download or Print

555 Reads

Info and Rating