Comments on: Be A Better Speaker: Go Commando

By: Dan London - Virtual Data Room Expert

Dan London - Virtual Data Room Expert — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:04:38 +0000

Great post. I speak quite a bit and always try different approaches. I think the key is knowing the experience level of your audience before preparing.

By: Tisha Morris

Tisha Morris — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:26:20 +0000

Hey Jonathan,
I had the same experience… going from attorney to yoga instructor. I was always extremely nervous in court just to continue a motion. Teaching yoga has completely ‘cured’ me of that. First, it helps being in an environment that you want to be in. And, secondly, as you said it’s a different way of speaking… it’s more intuitively following your inner guide. Not reciting stuff that you’ve memorized. I guess the point it is that it’s always easier to speak from your heart than your mind!

By: Jonathan Fields

Jonathan Fields — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:24:23 +0000

Fabulous comments as always! FYI – in case ya didn’t know…public speaking is the number one phobia in the U.S. (don’t know about elsewhere).

And, fear of death is, um, number 4!

By: Rod Newbound

Rod Newbound — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:08:03 +0000

Thanks Jonathan, for a well written and thoughtful article about most people’s #1 fear.

I remember well how shy I was in school. By the time I got to the 5th grade, it was so bad, my teacher kept me after class to do my oral book reports.

When I joined the Air Force at 19, the recruiter never told me what I was putting down as a career path I wanted was jokingly referred to as a “dream sheet”. When I finished basic training, the AF decided they needed more marksmanship instructors. So that’s what they ordered me to do. I was so petrified I actually went to the doctor… who proceeded to prescribe tranquilizers.

Four years later, I walked out of the AF a whole lot less intimidated about public speaking.

By: » Good Reads

» Good Reads — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 19:00:21 +0000

[...] Jonathan Fields of Awake at the Wheel gives suggestions to Be a Better Speaker: Go Commando. [...]

By: Bo

Bo — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:35:11 +0000

I think Katrina has it right. Practice. As a professional classical musician, this is a big question. When you’re performing something that the audience has been listening to for hundreds of years (live and recorded which adds to the lofty expectation), how do you make it new and fresh? Of course, each individual artist brings a whole new bag of ideas and interpretations. But to make each performance truly new to both the performer and the audience, the performer must practice the piece until he/she knows it inside out, upside down, rigt side left, hundreds of times, not just repeating, but really digging in and taking it apart. Only with that kind of preparation, can one be spontaneous and free on stage. Because you know it SO well, you can be fully in the moment and say what you need to say. You’re ready for the surprises of a live performance. The performance aspect must be practiced as well. Get a bunch of friends and have a mock concert. Take a practice session, even by yourself, and really perform through the whole piece. Make mistakes. Work on it. Then let it rip on stage. I don’t do much public speaking, but I’d imagine it’s similar. Know your material. Practice. Practice performing. Then let it go. See what happens.

By: Monday Reading Roundup Take #25

Monday Reading Roundup Take #25 — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 13:14:46 +0000

[...] Fields has some adivice for you if you want to be a better speaker – go commando! What does that mean? It meand improvising, creating on the fly and coming up with a very real [...]

By: Jobs in Ireland

Jobs in Ireland — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 20:26:45 +0000

Somestimes it is good to go commando and then engage by getting some comments and develop on those comments or get the commentators to develop on those comments.

You can then go back to the script and know that others will want to join in at a later time. So, it may be possible to go off script again.

Participants like it when they are engaged.

By: MCE Round Table: Commandos, Tweets, The Onion, and Google—Yes! | Maximum Customer Experience Blog

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 10:11:50 +0000

[...] and Jonathan Fields, one of my favorite writers, will liven this one up when he recommends that we Go Commando at Awake at the [...]

By: Laurie | Express Yourself to Success

Laurie | Express Yourself to Success — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:10:16 +0000

It IS hard to toss the script if you’re married to it. I’ve found that you have to be where the “listener is;” if you’re not, most often you’ve lost them. So when I’m speaking and my script isn’t working, I try something else…and sometimes that doesn’t work and I try yet another way. Being interactive and getting the audience involved by asking questions is a good way to get on track – their track. And a sense of humour usually comes in really handy too! For me, the bottom line is that communication is only useful if what’s being said is being received and understood.