Universidad Tecnológica de El Salvador
The One Minute Presenter
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The One Minute Presenter

Warwick John Fahy
Unique Voices Publishing, 2009
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Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Many people are so afraid of public speaking that they would rather run blindfolded down the middle of a busy highway than make a presentation to an audience. The formal name for speechmaking anxiety, which affects three out of every four people, is glossophobia. This fear is so abject that in polls it outranks necrophobia, the fear of dying. Are you a glossophobe? If so, take heart: Presentation expert Warwick John Fahy, a member of Toastmasters International’s Hall of Fame, has the answer to your problem. He details eight steps toward becoming a more confident public speaker, including some “fearbusters” you can use to conquer your dread of making presentations. This easy-to-follow program can help anyone present fearlessly. getAbstract recommends Fahy’s valuable advice on public speaking.

Summary

No Attention

Increasingly, cable television, video games, email, the Internet, social networking, instant messaging and smart phones provide constant distraction. Amid this information overload onslaught, which includes standard print and broadcast media, people often tune out public speakers. “Digital natives,” people born after 1980, are particularly bad audience members. They’ve grown up with the Internet, which shapes how they think and process information. Their motivation is “instant gratification,” and their attention spans tend to be severely limited.

“Poor interactions” also negatively affect attention. The majority of business communications are not interactive, so people quickly tune them out. Time pressures, language barriers and multitasking are other obstacles to audience attention. Stressed people have a hard time calming their anxiety enough to listen well. Presenters trying to secure the attention of busy, distracted, harried and unfocused audience members face a major challenge.

Too Many Presentations

Speechmakers, meanwhile, talk too much for their listeners to tolerate. According to estimates, speakers batter audiences with...

About the Author

Warwick John Fahy, a business presentation coach in Asia, is the general manager of Teamswork China. In 2007, Toastmasters International inducted Fahy into its Hall of Fame. Fahy is president of the Professional Speakers Association of China, which he founded.

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