Practice makes ________ ???

“Perfect!”, they cried in unison.
“Wrong!”

Practice Makes Permanence.

Apparently after four fruitful hours with thirteen fervent participants, that’s three words they find most memorable. I cannot help but agree with them wholeheartedly about the significance of these three words. You see, public speaking is like swimming. There is absolutely NO way you can master swimming just by reading a book or hundred books. Sitting through a workshop - that is held in a classroom - doesn’t do much either. You got to be at the pool inside to learn how to swim.

“But this book is written by a swimming champ at Olympics. Surely, there is a way?”

Yeah right.

Interesting enough, there are a lot of people who really believe fervently that by reading a couple of books or sitting through a series of seminars, they can become proficient presenters; just like those who spent years of practice to hone their skills.

I am sorry to burst your bubble but it doesn’t work. Mastering public speaking (or any skill) lies in the doing and not in the intellectual. Tips that you read here or any where are useless until they are tested. That’s why it is so important to practice!

Here’s a quick exercise. Remember the three tips I shared with you from the previous post? Go test one of them out in your next speech. And then use the sales dog debrief to evaluate its effectiveness. Modify your speech if you need to. Otherwise, test out the next tip. And repeat the process. Let the positive effects of these tips become your reality!

Feedback from the participants…

Attending your workshop has made me realize that public speaking is not that hard, it is doable!

I finally identify the cause of my problem in public speaking.

Thanks for the new tips and insights like the inner coach and the value we could add to our own speech.

The workshop has definitely added a lot of value to me - I now have more clues as to how to prepare for a presentation and how to get it started!

Thank YOU for a very inspiring workshop — both Rashmi and I learned a lot of useful things…..it was an afternoon very well spent.

Share This