Building

Speaker Essentials of Public

Speaking
Confidence

Cheryl Hamilton

5th Edition

Chapter
Cheryl Hamilton, Ph.D.
2
Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2 Building Speaker Confidence 1.1
 Flashback . . .
Isocrates, a Greek contemporary of Plato and
Aristotle, is one of the prestigious Ten Attic
Orators. However, he suffered from speaker
anxiety and had a voice that wouldn’t project.
Even so, he and founded the first permanent
and financially successful school of rhetoric.
For over 50 years his graduates became
prominent Greek citizens. Most scholars
agree that his program of study and his
philosophy of educating “the good man skilled
in speaking” have greatly influenced education
even to the present time (Conley, 1990, p. 20).

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.2

 Questions
1. Give five reasons why persons are afraid of
public speaking.
2. What do you do to overcome this fear?
Intimidated
Insecurities of their voice –accent
Trauma from a previous public speaking event
Fear of being questioned –not knowing answer
Different audiences

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 1 – Public Speaking, Ethics & You 1.3
  Coming off as being stupid -research topics
 Fear of being embarrassed
 Fear of being judged –remain calm
 Practicing infront of the mirror

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 1 – Public Speaking, Ethics & You 1.4
 Key Ideas
 The situational and trait anxiety
 Define Positive Imagery and explain how it
helps manage trait anxiety
 Strategies for managing anxiety

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.5

 Types of Anxiety
 Situational – anxiety caused by
factors present in a specific
speaking situation
 Trait – internal anxieties an
individual brings to the speaking
situation

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.6

 Characteristics of Situational Anxiety
 Feeling nervous in a new speaking situation
 Situational anxiety is normal and necessary
to dynamic communication
 Experienced speakers get situational anxiety
(e.g. Mike Wallace, Billy Graham, Lee
Iacocca, talk show host Susan Powter)

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.7

 Characteristics of Trait Anxiety
 A feeling of dissimarlity to other speakers
 A feeling of anxiety due to prior speaking
history
 A feeling of subordinate status

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.8

 Managing Situational Anxiety
 Prepare and practice
– Prepare using notes and visuals
– Practice out loud at least three times
 Warm-up before speaking
 Use deep breathing
 Plan a relaxing introduction

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.9

 Managing Situational Anxiety
 Concentrate on meaning
– Make sure your listeners are following your
organization
– Pay close attention to audience feedback
 Used visual aids
– Visual aids keep your hands occupied
– Visual aids shift attention away from you
– Visual aids help you remember what you are going to
say

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.10

 Managing Trait Anxiety:
The power of Positive Imagery

Positive imagery is “creating a positive,

vivid, and detailed mental image of
yourself giving a successful and confident
speech. When you imagine yourself
speaking confidently, you become more
confident just as you would if you had
actually given a successful speech.

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.11

 Why Positive Imagery Works
 Positive imagery helps you generate
enthusiasm
 Positive imagery helps us get a positive
picture of ourselves
 Positive imagery helps us create a vision of
succeeding as a speaker

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.12

 Mastering Positive Imagery

Step 1
Develop the habit of positive self-talk

Negative words to Positive

avoid Alternatives
have to want to
ought to like to
need to enjoy

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.13

 Mastering Positive Imagery

Step 2
Refocus negative mental pictures
into positive ones
 Picture yourself as the speaker that you
would like to be
 Identify the speaking characteristics you
would like to have
 Write 10 positive statements that describe
those positive characteristics
Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.14
 Mastering Positive Imagery

Step 2
Refocus negative mental pictures
into positive ones
 Picture yourself as the speaker that you
would like to be
 Identify the speaking characteristics you
would like to have
 Write 10 positive statements that describe
those positive characteristics
Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.15
 Writing Positive Statements

Weak: I will try to look directly at my

listeners when I speak
Better: I’m making direct eye contact with
my listeners as I speak

Weak: My voice does not shake when I speak

Better: My voice is strong and steady when I
speak
Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.16
 Examples of Positive Statements

 I feel as relaxed and confident giving a formal

presentation as I do entertaining good friends in
my own living room.
 I enjoy giving presentations regardless of the size
of the audience.
 I am a warm, relaxed, and entertaining speaker.

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.17

 Examples of Positive Statements

 I am a dynamic speaker.
 When I’m in front of a group words flow easily
for me.
 People respond well to my presentations.

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.18

 Mastering Positive Imagery
Step 3
Compete only with yourself

 Picture yourself as the speaker that you

would like to be
 Identify the speaking characteristics you
would like to have
 Write 10 positive statements that describe
those positive characteristics

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.19

 Keys to Visualization

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.20

 Managing Trait Anxiety: Other Methods
 Relaxation with deep breathing
– Learning to relax using deep muscle relaxation and
breathing
– Learning to remain relaxed while visualizing a series of
communication situations progressing from low anxiety
to high anxiety

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.21

 Managing Trait Anxiety
 Cognitive Restructuring (Fremouw & Scott,
1979); Meichenbaum, 1985
– Identifying irrational self-talk that produces speaker
anxiety
– Developing alternative coping statements
– Practicing the coping statements in stressful situations

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.22

 Managing Trait Anxiety
 Skills Training (Kelly, 1989; Phillips, 1977,
1991)
– Identifying speaking goals
– Determining behavior or skills needed to achieve the
speaking goals
– Developing procedures for judging the success of each
goal

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.23

 Technology
 Electronic visuals such as PowerPoint
 Adds to credibility and confidence
 Easy to prepare and revise
 Helps keep thoughts on track
 Make sure to practice with them

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2 Building speaker Confidence 1.24

 Analyzing speeches for anxiety
 Watch a scene from the 1998 movie Elizabeth, where Queen Elizabeth I
played by Cate Blanchett is nervously rehearsing a speech she must give to
a hostile audience of rival clergy. Analyze her speech using the following
questions:
1. Which type of anxiety do you think bothered Queen Elizabeth the
most? How do you know?
2. What role do you think her preparation and practice played in her
success at persuading her audience to vote for a Unified Church of
England?
3. What other methods of handling anxiety discussed in this chapter
could have helped?

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 1 – Public Speaking, Ethics & You 1.25
 Remember . . .
“ The only difference between
the pros and the novices is that
the pros have trained their
butterflies to fly in formation.”

Edward R. Murrow

Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2– Building Speaker Confidence 1.26

 Building
Speaker Essentials of Public
Speaking
Confidence

Cheryl Hamilton

5th Edition

Chapter
Cheryl Hamilton, Ph.D.
2
Copyright © 2011 Cengage Learning Chapter 2 Building Speaker Confidence 1.27