Speaking With Confidence

Course Description

Would you like to conquer your fear of speaking in public? Do you long to increase your influence in group settings, small meetings, or informal group gatherings? Speaking with Confidence will teach you how to plan and perfect your message; channel your nervous energy; create and present masterful messages that engage your listeners and help you deliver the most important points you want to convey whether at home, at work or in your community. Through inspirational principles, meaningful assignments, weekly short presentations, group interaction and impromptu talks along with immediate and meaningful feedback, your confidence and presentations will improve dramatically. Your ability to speak effectively has the power to make or break your career and to influence others and to impact your confidence in life, work, and your future. In this course, you will master Six Steps and Eight Keys to speaking with power. This program is based on the supplied textbook, Speak with Power by Betty Cooper.

Participant Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Overcome your fear of speaking
• Improve your ability to speak effectively
• Apply your new confidence and speaking skills in business
• Learn how to harness your nervous energy
• Learn how your voice works and how to make it work for you

Course Content

Session 1

• Getting to know you
• Basic Communicating Problems
• Introduction to Seven Steps and Seven Keys
• Key #1 Desire
• Key #2 Breathing for Pow!-R!
• Breathing Exercises
• Daily vocal Warm-up
• Step #2 Harnessing Nervous Energy
• Assignments #1 & #2 for next week

Session 2

• It's not just what you say!
• Focus on Key #3 Know your voice
• Focus on Key #4 The Four P's
• Inflection
• Assignment #3 for next week

Session 3

• Organizing and Listening
• Focus on Key #5 P.R.E.P/T.R.I.M.
• Focus on Step #3 Listening
• Focus on non-verbal messages
• Developing Vocal Variety Exercise
• Assignment #4 for next week

Session 4

• Lifting it off the page
• Focus on Step #5
• Nursery Rhymes
• Assignment #5 for next week

Session 5

• Your Audience
• Focus on Key #6 - know your audience
• Audience Analysis Check List
• Focus on Key #7 - The Eye's and I's
• Focus on Step #6
• Assignment #6 for next week

Session 6

• Special Occasions and Special Problems
• Close look at Key #8, Patience and Practice
• Impromptu Speaking
• Introducing and Thanking a speaker
• Assignment #7 for next week

Session 7

• Each student will give a presentation; Introduce a presenter and Thank a presenter.