tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35758167.post8181007795251868992..comments2023-10-25T05:20:10.712-07:00Comments on Speak Schmeak: Are you too hard on yourself?Lisa Braithwaitehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11515770110437411408noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35758167.post-77720376242135723632007-07-31T08:37:00.000-07:002007-07-31T08:37:00.000-07:00Congratulations on your presentation, Cam! I'm sur...Congratulations on your presentation, Cam! I'm sure it was great. We are so much more aware of our own mistakes than our audience ever is. Yes, definitely focus on what went well, and be realistic about the mistakes. It's all you can do without driving yourself crazy.<BR/><BR/>Heidi, your son sounds like a quick study! It's not easy to drop all fillers from one speech to the next!<BR/><BR/>It's so important to keep speaking; we only get better when we face challenges. If it's always easy, we don't really learn from the experience. <BR/><BR/>But it's also important to practice beforehand, because good preparation allows a presentation to just flow without much conscious thought of the content.<BR/><BR/>I'm already laughing at my ridiculous closing from yesterday. I was most upset about it because I had been unhappy with my closing and had really worked to come up with a better one. And then I just ruined it. <BR/><BR/>But again, it's all part of preparation, and I know I didn't practice that new ending enough. It's been a really long time - years and years - since I felt bad about a presentation, so I was probably due. Better next time!Lisa Braithwaitehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10203279973932837403noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35758167.post-70637688536054996042007-07-31T06:26:00.000-07:002007-07-31T06:26:00.000-07:00So would you say it helps to keep speaking so not ...So would you say it helps to keep speaking so not to get rusty, to continue to learn how to improve?<BR/><BR/>I was proud of my 16 year old. He is fearless, first to volunteer to get up in front of a crowd. <BR/><BR/>He spoke at church and about every other word was "and stuff". He didn't want to practice or anything else ahead of time. So the next time I suggested that he leave the "and Stuff" out. To my delight, not even once did he use the phrase. <BR/><BR/>I've also found that we are often our own worst critiques as we work at fine tuning our talents. Others think we've done a great job and we are saying but I could have done better on this point.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35758167.post-26799593854226394272007-07-31T03:58:00.000-07:002007-07-31T03:58:00.000-07:00People don't expect much of the mandated presentat...People don't expect much of the mandated presentations I give - I'm not a professional speaker like you are. I can only imagine the pressure you must put on yourself.<BR/><BR/>My presentation yesterday, since you were wondering, was alright. There were some technical difficulties, and I had to improvise. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the camera to test and rate my own performance, but I know there were several, distinct areas I could improve.<BR/><BR/>I did get a few laughs and was able to keep the audience, for the most part, engaged. So I'll focus on that and not the fact that I, too, said, "And that's all I have to say about [my subject]. Any questions?"<BR/><BR/>Thank you for the encouragement. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com