Make it Transformational: A Blog for Champion Discipleship

Can you guess what the number one human fear is?  The dark?  No, that’s #12.  Dying?  No, that’s #7.  Heights?  No, that’s #2.  The number one fear is... public speaking!!

Of course, trying to find the source of this survey is difficult and it’s questionable as to how scientific it was when taken (for example, my greatest fear is running out of peanut M&M’s, but I digress...), so we need to take it with a grain of salt.

Yet, regardless of whether or not public speaking is the #1 fear, I think we can all agree it IS pretty high on the list.  Even when someone agrees to speak publicly about something there is a natural fear going into it, and a question about how effective one will be when they speak.  And this gets to what I want to talk to you about...

Public speaking at your events!  Too many times I have seen ministries recruit volunteer speakers to share their story, to talk about their involvement in the cause, to make an ask, or even to MC the event, only to have it be a very stressful experience where they are only half as effective as they could have been with a little prep work.

Because of that, my next few blog posts are going to be dedicated to helping you and your volunteer speakers to be the best you can be when on the stage.

First off, we have to address this fear.  Hear me...having fear is OKAY so embrace it!  Ian Tyson, a stand-up comedian, said “The body’s reaction to fear and excitement is the same...so it becomes a mental decision: am I afraid or am I excited?”   Address your fear directly and early on and decide how you’re going to channel it.

Second, practice your speech, then practice some more, and of course, practice.  Frankly, if I asked people how important practice was, 100% would say VERY important.  YET, we don’t do it nearly enough (if at all!).  I like Scott Berkun’s take on why he practices his speeches.  In his book Confessions of a Public Speaker, he says “I don’t practice to make perfect, and I don’t memorize...my intent is simply to know my material so well that I’m very comfortable with it. Confidence, not perfection, is the goal.”  (Side note: this is a great book you need to read!)

And that leads into the third point we need to discuss, which is WHAT is it that your practicing?? To have confidence in a message that is confusing and convoluted is not good!  But, you’ll have to wait until next time to learn about "shaping the message.”

(BTW, for July, MIF is presenting a free workshop on Fundraising Banquets where we’ll be talking about speaker effectiveness, so check that out to expand on what I’m sharing here.)