1. Speaking in Public and Listening
Chapter Two
Speaking in Public and Listening

2. What is Public Speaking?
Public Speaking is a way of sharing your ideas with other people and of influencing other people

3. Public Speaking Produces Anxiety in Most People
People’s Biggest Fears
3. Death
2. Snakes
1. Public Speaking

4. Developing Confidence
Nervousness is Normal
Actors are nervous before a play, politicians are nervous before a speech, and athletes are nervous before a big game.
Surveys show that 76% of experienced speakers have stage fright before taking the floor.

5. Developing Confidence … Cont’d
Dealing with Nervousness
Rather than trying to eliminate every stage fright, you should transform it from a negative force into positive nervousness.
Here are many ways you can turn your nervousness from negative force into a positive one:
Acquire Speaking Experience
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
Think Positively
Use the Power of Visualization
Know That Most Nervousness Is Not Visible
Don’t Expect Perfection
Take a couple slow, deep breaths before you start to speak
Make eye contact with your audience
As you are waiting to speak, quietly tighten and relax your leg muscles, squeeze your hands together and then release them
Concentrate on communicating rather than worrying about stage fright

6. Listening is Important
Although most people listen poorly, there are exceptions.
Top business people, and successful politicians are all excellent listeners.

7. Kinds of Listening
Appreciative Listening – listening for pleasure or enjoyment, as when we listen to music.
Empathic Listening – listening to provide emotional support for the speaker, as when a doctor listens to a patient or when we listen to a friend is distress
Comprehensive Listening – listening to understand the message of a speaker, as when we attend a classroom lecture or listen to directions
Critical Listening – listening to evaluate a message for purposes of accepting or rejecting it, as when we listen to the speech a political candidate, or arguments in a court

8. Four Causes of Poor Listening
Not Concentrating
Although we talk at a rate of 120 to 150 words a minute, the brain can process 400 to 800 words a minute.
Listening Too Hard
We try to pick up a speaker’s every word as if every word were equally important
Jumping to Conclusions
Focusing on Delivery and Personal Appearance

9. How to Become a Better Listener
Take Listening Seriously
Listening comes from practice.
Be an Active Listener
We listen to a music while studying; parents listen to their children while fixing the dinner. This is passive listening.
Active listeners give their undivided attention to the speaker to understand his or her point of view.
Resist Distractions
We try to eliminate all physical and mental distractions
Make a conscious effort to pull your mind back to what the speaker is saying. Try to anticipate what the speaker is saying next. This is not the same as jumping to conclusions.
Another way to keep your mind on a speech is to review mentally what the speaker has already said and make sure you understand it

10. How to Become a Better Listener … Cont’d
Don’t’ be Diverted by Appearance or Delivery
Gandhi was a very unimpressive-looking man who often spoke dressed in a simple white cotton cloth.
Suspend Judgment
If you are sure of your beliefs, you need not fear listening to opposing views.
If you are not sure, you have every reason to listen carefully.
It has been said more than once that a closed mind is an empty mind.
Develop Note-Taking Skills