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Public Speaking Olympiad 2010

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The 2010 winter Olympics has begun. Whether you're a fan of curling, ice-skating or downhill skiing, an Olympiad is where people come together to share in man's wonderful desire to be the best that is humanly possible. So what's that got to do with public speaking? Quite a lot, actually.

It's a little known fact that speaking was one of the original Olympic disciplines. The Greeks going back 2,500 years were the first to open educational establishments teaching rhetoric to those who would become its leaders, law makers and prominent citizens. If you were unable to stand up and debate your corner of the argument, there would be little opportunity for advancement in the Greek intellectual hierarchies.

In modern times, speaking is a popular hobby for hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world and it has a fantastic cross over with your professional life. I moved into training in IT systems some 20 years ago and still really enjoy the buzz of sharing my knowledge and skills with many people who tend to be much younger. When I moved into speaking 10 years ago, I suddenly realised how much room there was for self improvement. Confidence allied to excellent vocal technique makes for a memorable training intervention (knowing your material inside out really helps speaking confidently).

When I became a member of my local speakers club it became clear that there were several areas in which my spoken technique could improve. For some years I had wrestled with the joy of fantastic feedback one week followed by some not so fantastic feedback the next. I could never work out why sometimes they loved me and sometimes they clearly did not.

It all came down to vocal technique and the very simple fact that: It's not what you say, it's the way that you say it.

Clearly, there would be weeks when I was highly motivated and brimming with enthusiasm for my subject matter and my attendees. There were other times when my vocal energy had clearly stayed at home. If you speak without belief, enthusiasm, sincerity or passion, you must make the assumption that everybody turned off some time ago. If you do not ally those attributes to varying your pitch, pace, pause and projection, it becomes a miserable event for your students.

Aldous Huxley once said, "There is only one corner of the universe that you can change, and that is your own." At first glance there is merit in his remark, but being a trainer provides a constant stream of exceptional opportunities to positively influence your students on a daily, weekly and annual basis. The opportunity is to read between the lines of your subject matter, inject motivation and inspiration into each and every sentence. Bring your subject matter alive by using anecdotes, analogies, metaphors and case studies. Deliver your subject in the moment!

I would like to see speaking return to the Olympic programme. Would it not be marvellous to see the world's best speakers battling it out on TV in front of five hundred million viewers? Why not? Would it not be wonderful if professional speakers earned the same type of money as its sports stars? Why not? Before I make it happen, I must first have that dream… the return of speaking as an Olympic event.

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