Welcome to the Public Speaking Wizardry blog.
You can find here valuable articles, tips & tricks, and proven techniques that can bring your presentations to the next level. You can read here about public speaking, stage presence, storytelling, stress management, body language, mastering the art of impactful communication, presenting to non-expert audiences, dealing with imposter syndrome, building self-confidence, executive presentations, engaging an audience, and many more.
Enjoy!
A common question that comes from my clients is: what should I do with my hands? During speeches, the issue of hand positioning and gestures can be a problem. In this article you will find tips on what to do with your hands.
This time we will deal with the physiology of stress to understand what is happening to our body in a situation interpreted by our brain as a threat. Often, my clients describe their reactions to stress as something unpleasant, e.g. they dry up in their throats, they can’t remember anything or their hands shake while holding the microphone. For an unconscious performer, this situation can be frightening, because we do not have full control over our body, and this generates fear.
I often get the question of how to become a TED or TEDx speaker. There are several ways to do this. I invite you to continue reading 🙂
What is stress?
According to the definition of Hans Sely, stress is a non-specific reaction of the body to any requirement imposed on it or according to another definition stress disturbs the state of equilibrium and puts us to the test or even exceeds our ability to deal with it. A stressor is a stimulus event requiring the body to do some kind of adaptive reaction3, e.g. entering the stage in front of the audience, and even the mere information about the need for a public appearance.
TEDxSGH which took place on November 30th. It was attended by many people with, as we say in TEDx: “ideas worth spreading”. They raised topics such as etiquette in business, slow fashion, self-awareness, rhymes in hip-hop and social responsibility for the rehabilitation of prisoners and their return to normality. The last topic was presented by Marcin Czarnecki, with whom I had the pleasure to work on the presentation.
The event was the crowning of the work of several dozen people over the last months. Together with my TEDx speakers, we worked individually on the content, message, body language and other aspects that make speeches memorable and have the power to change thinking.
If you’re looking for a checklist in preparation for a presentation, you have come to the right place!
What should the speaker know? What attribution errors can listeners make in a public speech? A conscious performer knowing these principles can build effective strategies for self-presentation and building a personal brand, as well as realize that not everything depends only on his performance, and therefore reduce some stage fright.
Confidence plays a huge role in our lives. Often it results in us giving up many opportunities and challenges. How to build self-confidence? Below some specific exercises and methods are presented.
Yesterday’s Jubilee X TEDxWarsaw was full of many inspiring and interesting presentations. I am happy to prepare speakers for their speeches and be part of the TEDxWarsaw team. There were, among others, presentations about body-positivity, the use of space resources to save our planet, taboos about child depression, short-term rent, teaching at the best school in the world, as well as climate change, debate, ecology and many more.
