Confidence in public speaking

'It's alright to have butterflies in your stomach, just get them to fly in formation!'

It is a little strange, but in the worlds of addiction and recovery, a large number of us are asked to speak in public. Very often this is about our experiences of treatment or recovery, or to share some of our own learning and personal development as we have battled to turn our lives around. For a great many people, this is a panic inducing, if not utterly terrifying experience, and yet it can be easier than you think . . . . .

• Why is short better than long?
• Reasons as to why a good beginning and punchy ending are important.
• Are you a reader, a bullet pointer, or do you prefer to shoot from the hip? Working out your own technique.
• Jokes are good, but which ones?
• People love a story, but why?
• Emotional content can hook an audience, but own do you do this and retain some sense of privacy?
• Why winging it never works!
• How do you put a presentation together?
• Why rehearsing is so important!
• How to test a presentation on others and listen to the feedback!
• What does know your audience mean?
• The dangers of grandstanding!
• What do you when you panic?
• Some simple tricks to using power point without boring the audience rigid!

Slowly, year by year, we are writing the odd workshop here and there than is less about drugs, alcohol, treatment and recovery, and more about personal development. So many people associated with Build on Belief over the years have been asked to speak publicly, we thought we would try and make it a little easier for them!