Spiders? Heights? Public Speaking?
Public speaking consistently ranks as one of the top three things that people fear the most you. If that includes you, then you’re probably familiar with feelings of dread, shaking hands, nausea, stuttering, sleepless nights and more! If you are afraid of public speaking, it’s no laughing matter. Public speaking and the ability to present and present well, are such an important part of modern life, whether it’s at work, for an interview or even at a social event such as a wedding or funeral. We nearly all have to speak well in public at some point and yet most of us have never had any training or help.
But the good news is …
You are not alone! Lots of our ASC members say that they came to us because they realised that their fear was starting to hold them back. Some of them would readily admit that the idea of public speaking used to fill them with complete dread. But what they nearly all say is that walking through the door of a Speakers Club meeting for the first time (or these days tuning into a Zoom call) is the hardest part of what we call our “Speakers Club Journey”. After that, things quickly start to improve.
How?
We have a very simple but well-structured and highly effective approach. It’s built around a few important principles:
- You take things at your own pace. We will encourage you to speak but we’ll never force you to.
- We all need somewhere safe to practice. You can practice on your own in your bedroom but nothing beats practicing in front of an audience. But…and this is important, you need a supportive audience. We all make mistakes, we all get flustered at some point and forget what we were going to say or say completely the wrong thing and that’s fine. A Speakers Club is a place where you can practice, get it wrong, get it right, and even experiment, all in front of an audience who are supportive. We like to think of our fellow speakers as a safety net, and when you fall, they literally scoop you up, put you back on your feet and encourage you to have another go. And nothing beats practicing in front of an audience who are smiling and willing you to succeed!
- Positive and constructive feedback makes all the difference. You’ll get lots of feedback at a Speakers Club and we’ll help you identify what works really well for you and build on it. We fundamentally believe in helping you improve your confidence.
- You learn by listening and watching as much as by doing. Our clubs have a really diverse membership with speakers of all levels and you’ll find you learn as much by listening to others speak and the feedback they receive as you do from doing your own speeches.
- Our programme should be accessible to all. Whatever your background, wherever you’re from, whatever your budget or reason for joining, our Speakers Clubs pride themselves on being accessible.
Our programme
Over the last five decades, our programme has been tried and tested all over the country. It starts with a simple 10 stage process, with each stage focusing on a different skill. Whilst you work your way through the different stages, you also get a chance to practice other skills like chairing a meeting, impromptu speaking, etc. Most meetings also start with a short 15 second warm up which is a really gentle way to ease yourself into saying something.
When you’ve mastered the 10 levels …and you will, there are lots of further assignments and challenges to have a go at.
CPD accredited
And did we mention we’re CPD accredited! So, it all counts towards your professional development.
So much easier than spiders
We can tell you about how brilliant our clubs and our programme are (and they really are much easier than removing that giant spider) but the best thing is for you to try it for yourself. Most of our clubs meet twice a month (and hopefully in September they’ll be able to meet in person rather than by Zoom) and although most clubs have a short summer break, they’ll resume in September. Why not use our club finder to find your nearest club or just drop us a message!
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