"How Effective Communication Equals Business Success: A Lesson In Proactive Speaking"

By Randy Gilbert (c)2002

Winston Churchill said, "there are only two things more difficult than making a speech - one is climbing a wall that is leaning toward you, and the other is kissing a girl who is leaning away from you."

Why is it, that the biggest fear most people have, which is speaking in front of a group of people, is also one of the biggest factors to determine one's success in business? One obvious reason is that being a good orator is a sign that a person wants to succeed bad enough and will do whatever it takes to overcome his or her fear of failure. To conquer one's fear of failure is indeed a prerequisite to success.

A second reason to link speaking and business success is that learning how to speak in front of a group gives a person a superior advantage in communicating his or her message effectively. When you master public speaking, you become a better communicator with the pen as well as the voice.

There is a third, perhaps less obvious correlation, which I've experienced recently. Speaking has helped my business to be more successful because I have better relationships with people. I connect with people better because as a speaker I open up my life and allow myself to be more vulnerable. When people see that I care about them, they respond to me in a positive way.

The concept of being vulnerable takes me back to when I taught my 5-year-old son how to hammer nails. Timothy had to use both hands to hold the hammer, so it was dear old Dad's fingers that were vulnerable to his inexperienced hammer blows. Keeping my vocabulary to "ouch" while continuing to encourage was not easy.

Taking the pain of a few misguided swings helped Tim to learn more quickly. By allowing myself to be vulnerable, I was communicating to my son that I cared about him and wanted him to learn, even if it hurt me in the process. Children and adults respond when you show that you care.

Learning how to be an effective speaker in front of a group of people is essential to your business success. The following 3 proactive tips will show you how to get started, if you're a beginner, and how to improve, if you're already good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tip 1 - Learn From The Masters and Work Hard At It ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your journey to becoming an effective speaker will be made easy if you join a group that will help you succeed. Toastmasters is an organization whose mission is to do just that. Check out www.toastmasters.org to find a group near you.

Use every opportunity to practice, practice, practice. Volunteer to speak at churches and civic clubs. Even if you don't become a professional speaker, you will be looked up to as a leader and your value will increase in everyone's eyes.

I'm a strong believer in the saying, "You can't hire someone else to do your pushups." You need to get better through your own efforts. There is a price for success that only you can pay, but it is worth every bit of the cost.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tip 2 - Be Passionate About What You Speak Of ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you have passion for your business you will try extra hard to become an expert. You will be motivated to read every book, interview every specialist, and study every article.

When you become the expert - when you know that you know more than anyone else in the room - you will lose your fear of speaking in front of others and will easily share your knowledge. Allow your passion to come out in what you say.

When people admire you for being the expert, your self-esteem will rise and your newfound confidence will soon translate into more sales, increased effectiveness, and thus more success in your business.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tip 3 - Be A Living Example and Speak From Your Heart ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Speak from the heart and talk in a natural style. Use examples, stories, and jokes to illustrate what you're saying. Open up your life and let people see that you are a real person. Even in the midst of your success, people want to hear about your mistakes, how you fell down, and how you have problems too.

Be sincere and demonstrate how your beliefs are acted out in real life, because people will believe your message when they see that you believe your message.

It doesn't matter what business you're in. By learning how to effectively speak in front of people you will set yourself up to succeed in it. Remember the three proactive tips of learning from the masters, being passionate about your subject, and being a living example. Your becoming an effective communicator will translate directly into business success.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Randy (Dr. Proactive) Gilbert, is a motivational speaker and author of "SUCCESS BOUND" - http://www.Success-Bound.com He is also a success coach who helps people double and triple their effectiveness through the "Power of Proactive Thinking" http://www.DrProactive.com/proactive_thinking_secret/ Copyright 2002 Randy Gilbert. All rights reserved. Feel free to pass the above in its entirety to anyone you wish. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~