Public Speaking & Mini Book Review
I had ONE main goal when I started an instagram account. I wanted to share my STORY.
Public speaking or communication have never been my forte. My ability to use words in order to express my emotions always left me feeling like I didn’t get my message across to my audience (no matter how big or small). I was the master of leaving things left unsaid.
That was all true until something happened.
A turning point in my life was a near death experience that pierced into my soul so deeply, and changed my path so drastically, that I felt the need to share. (Click photo to read more) But a major problem was that I didn’t know how to tell my story.
I knew one thing. My goal in sharing my story was to inspire at least one person who doubted their abilities and doubted that they could achieve their wildest dreams.
I wasn’t a special dental student. I didn’t have the best grades.. and I definitely wasn’t the best clinician. But I WAS however, tenacious when I got accepted into the perio program because I was that much closer to achieving my dreams of becoming a periodontist. My passion for periodontics, my love for academia, and the bond with friends and family are all rooted so deeply into my soul that they wove my story of overcoming an almost deadly tragedy.
Thanks to the encouragement (pressure lol) of loved ones… I began to share my story. Little by little, my palms were less sweaty, my chest was less tight, and my heart didn’t race as fast when I began to speak in front of a crowd.
Recently, a friend recommended this Ted Talk book in order to improve my lecture skills, and here are my 3 main take aways from the book.
Be authentic.
This could mean a lot of different things, but my takeaway was to be genuine. People want to know you, your story and what message you are trying to deliver. Attention grabbing speakers and those that are thought provoking, and leave an impression. This does not mean that the story or lecture needs to be an over exaggeration. Plan your opening in a way that it hooks the audience, and is natural to who you are.
Make eye contact.
Usually finding a few people who are engaged, interested in what you have to say, and asking the audience questions helps build a connection to your crowd. Usually this also gives you momentum and energy to be dynamic during your talk
Be prepared.
This means knowing what you are going to say, even if you choose to do a raw talk without a script, memorize a script, or have a note card with bullet points to help stay on topic. Being unorganized can lead to forgetting what to say, running over time, or racing through your presentation. Rehearsing and over memorizing on the other hand, can make you sound robotic and disengaged.
I do highly recommend the book if you re interested in lecturing, have a story to share, interested in academia, or even just interested in improving communication skills.. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, thank you again for allowing me to express myself and my feelings. And a major thank you to all of those that have helped me along the ride.
Yvette.