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"If you want to become a successful leader
—in your company, industry or your downline—
there’s nothing more productive you can do
than to become good at public speaking."
Daniel G. St-Jean, BB, eBB, IMA
(BizzBooster, eBizzBooster, Internet Marketing Advisor)
Here is an undeniable fact: find out who the trendsetters, the leaders, the make-it-happens people are in your company, your industry, other organizations and downlines around you and I guarantee you will realize that they have one thing in common—they are very good communicators, and they feel very comfortable addressing a group.
Now, I could talk (write) your ears off about ALL the benefits of becoming a good public speaker, but I won’t because a) I think I’d be preaching to the choir (if you’re here on this page it’s because you already know the benefits), and b) I’m too anxious to introduce to you two excellent resources that can help you become excellent at public speaking—and therefore successful leaders.
First though, here are 4 pieces of advice, 3 important questions, 2 judicious answers, and 1 brilliant observation.
Let’s start with the 4 (tongue-in-cheek) pieces of advice:
"One thing a speaker
should remember for sure;
the mind can absorb only
what the seat can endure."
"Public speakers should speak up
so that they will be heard,
stand up so that they can be see,
and shut up so that they can be enjoyed."
"Every speaker has a mouth,
an arrangement rather neat.
Sometimes it’s filled with wisdom,
sometimes it’s filled with feet.
"Blessed is the man who,
having nothing to say,
abstains from giving in words
evidence to the fact."
Now the brilliant observation that Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in The Conduct of Life in 1860:
"All the great speakers were bad speakers at first."
All of that brings 3 important questions:
1-How do you ensure your mouth will be filled with wisdom and not with feet, and that you WILL have something to say before you open your mouth?
2-How to ensure your speech will not extend beyond the capacity of your listeners’ seats?
3-How do you go from being a bad speaker to being a great one?
Good questions, aren’t they? Well, here are 2 excellent answers. The first one is for people who just want to learn how to speak in public and be reasonably good at it. That answer is; Toastmasters International.
The second answer is for people who want to be excellent at speaking in public, maybe even great! That answer is; Burt Dubin.
Let’s start with Toastmasters.
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL:
"For Better Listening, Thinking, Speaking"
Toastmasters International is the leading movement developed to making effective oral communication a worldwide reality. Through its member clubs, Toastmasters International helps men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking—vital skills that promote self-actualization, enhance leadership, foster human understanding, and contribute to the betterment of mankind. It is basic to this mission that Toastmasters International continually expand its worldwide network of Clubs, thereby offering ever-greater numbers of people the opportunity to benefit from its programs.
"I am forever meeting wonderful people from all walks of life and together we are discovering and sharing our individual talents with each other, all in a mutually supportive learning environment. I have found that I have not only greatly improved my speaking skills, but more important, my listening skills. And just as important, Toastmasters also teaches leadership skills. Truly, it’s a marvelous organization and I encourage people to check it out." — Leona Hamel, DTM (Distinguished Toastmaster)
"Toastmasters is not just about making speeches. It’s about doing your homework,
self-confidence, appearance, and becoming an interesting person and a valuable resource to
others. In other words, Toastmasters can help you gain and polish the tools to become a
successful networker." — Harvey Mackay
"Public speaking is a skill that can be studied, polished, more or less perfected. You can not only get good at it, you can get damn good at it. And it makes a heck of a difference. One good answer to the public speaking problem/opportunity is Toastmasters. They do a fabulous job of helping people shape up their communication skills. If you’ve got any questions about your speaking ability (and if you don’t, you’ve probably got a problem), think about joining Toastmasters." — Tom Peters
Toastmasters is not about becoming
a great public speaker,
but rather an excellent communicator.
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For information on where to find a club, call 949-858-8255, or visit
www.Toastmasters.org
Now, for those who are good communicators and who want to become excellent ones, or who are good but want to become great public speakers, here’s the teachers’ teacher, the man who embodies speaking success, I give you Burt Dubin.
Burt Dubin works with people
who want to be speakers and
with speakers who want to be masters.
Burt lives in Kingman, Arizona, at 1 Speaking Success Road. His company is Speaking Success System. One of the addresses that’ll take you to his Web site contains the words Speaking and Success. Can you guess Burt’s area of expertise? If you are thinking of getting in the "speaking business," or if you are currently dabbing in it, or even if you are a veteran, you owe it to yourself to discover the tested and proven Speaking Success System. Create your own endless parade of profitable speaking engagements now. The first easy step is to contact speaking-coach-and-marketing-guru Burt Dubin at 1-800-321-1225 or 928-753-7546, or Burt(at)BurtDubin.com. Visit his most informative Web site and make sure to subscribe to The Speaking Biz Success Letter.
Before you go visit Burt’s site, you might want to find out a bit more about the man.
Here’s my take on Burt; I’ve known Burt for over 6 years now and I can honestly say that he’s one of the nicest person, most generous and caring human being I’ve ever met. Imagine being taught by such a person…
You will find below an article by Burt that will inspire you, and at the same time will enlighten you about the nature of the man whose website you will go visit next—if you want to be great at public speaking that is.
Wishing you great public speaking success… which will invariably lead to great BUSINESS RESULTS!
Daniel G. St-Jean
Why Believe in Yourself?
My Workplace Miracle
© Burt Dubin
The belief in what I can do sustains me. It sustains me through many crucibles. Through many crucibles in the years that follow.
Here’s how it happens: At 17 I quit high school. It’s not that I want to quit in my senior year. It’s my father. He ups and leaves us flat with no notice. No notice and no money. The "us" is my Mom, me, and my 2 little sisters. There’s no means of support. No cash to pay the rent. And the food. And all the rest.
So I take action. I quit high school. I go to the nearest large factory. It happens to be RCA, in Camden, New Jersey. I lie about my age. They believe me. They believe me because they need people now. There’s a war on. They only know they need people to do the essential work. They need people now.
An electronics enthusiast, I bump myself up. Up and off the assembly line in just a few weeks. I get myself assigned to the Test Cage. The Test Cage is electronically isolated from the rest of the world. No signals can enter. No signals can leave.
I love working with the CRT, the early computer monitor, the various meters and the alignment tools. It’s a Union Shop. Did you ever work in a Union Shop? If so, you’ll recognize what follows. The Shop Steward works along with everybody else. And he watches everything with the object of protecting and preserving jobs.
My job is to test and align electronic equipment destined for the USA Department of Defense. The Time and Motion Study folks have established 45 minutes as the allowed time to complete one procedure.
After a few weeks, I figure out how to do this job in 15 minutes. And I do. Instead of turning out 12 procedures per 8 hour shift, I do 36 complete procedures. The Shop Steward has a little talk with me. I resist his recommendation that I slow down. There’s a war on, I tell him.
He’s not happy. So he gets 2 engineers, guys with white shirts and neatly pressed navy blue trousers, (You know the type, their suits come with 2 pair of pants!) to visit me. They don’t just visit. They bring their yellow legal pads. They stand behind me. They stand behind me for 2 full shifts. When one has to visit the bathroom, the other watched me with eagle eyes.
After the 2 shifts, 16 hours of observing my every move, they file a Report. In essence, they say, "the kid’s right." (I, a late bloomer, was not even shaving yet.) The kid’s right! This means they rewrite the procedure. Now my every motion becomes the prescribed motion for the whole 30-person group. And they require someone to train the other in this simpler procedure.
Who do ya’ think they pick. I’m the only one available. So, at 17 I show the 29 others what to do and how to do it.
Wait, there’s more. They bump me up. off the line, to new responsibilities. I’m now the Troubleshooter for the whole group. This means when someone runs into a problem, they call on me to solve it.
When I can’t figure out what to do, I go to the Shift Supervisor, Dick Baker. He’s from Green Bay, Wisconsin. His religion is football. The Green Bay Packers are his heroes. His Gods. Every other word out of his mouth is Green Bay. (You’ve met the type.) He always solves the problem.
Here’s the scene: I’m hunched over a work station. I’m staring down the CRT and the perplexing problem. Dick Baker, a few feet away, quietly speaks to the person he’s with: "That young Burt is so good at what he does—he never has to call on me for help any more."
These words change my life. They inspire me with belief in myself.
I’m moved by those words. (They prove to be magic words.) Someone believes in me. Someone believes I’m better than I know I am. Maybe he’s right. Let’s find out.
I scrunch down addressing the problem. The sweat pours from my brow. I break through and solve the problem. I never have to call on Dick Baker for help ever again.
Because someone believes in me, I tap into a power I never knew was there. Now I believe in myself. I believe in my power to transcend perceived limits. This proves to be my workplace miracle!
Ever since that tender moment, thanks to Dick Baker, thanks to one person believing in me, I’ve shattered perceived limits again and again.
"Think you can, think you can’t, either way you’re right." So said Henry Ford. And you, dear Reader, can transcend the perceived limits of your life.
Simply believe in yourself and your power.
Do what you must to create
the conditions and circumstances you desire.
That’s all it takes.
copyright © Burt Dubin
Permission is granted to reprint this article in your newsletter or magazine with the following byline: Burt Dubin works with people who want to be speakers and with speakers who want to be masters. 800-321-1225 — 928-753-7546
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