Tracy - Speak to win: how to present with power in any situation

How to Present with Power in Any Situation

Brian Tracy

American Management Association

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Tracy, Brian.

Speak to win : how to present with power in any situation / Brian Tracy.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN-13: 978-0-8144-0157-6

ISBN-10: 0-8144-0157-0

e-ISBN: 978-0-8144-0182-8

1. Public speaking. I. Title.

PN4129.15.T73 2008

808.5 1dc22

2007043407

2008 Brian Tracy

All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America.

This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of AMACOM, a division of American Management Association, 1601 Broadway, New York, NY 10019.

Printing number

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

This book is fondly dedicated to my wife, Barbara, who has been with me and supported me over the years while I have been traveling and speaking all over the world. She has been a loyal and understanding partner, friend, and wonderful mother. Without her, nothing would have been possible, and with her support, there have been no limits.

Our destiny changes with our thoughts; we shall become what we wish to become, do what we wish to do, when our habitual thoughts correspond with our desires.

ORISON SWETT MARDEN

Your ability to speak to an audience is essential to your success. Speaking well can garner the respect and esteem of others, make you more valuable to your company, and get attention from people who can help you and open doors for you. Good speaking ability will also convince people that you are generally more talented and intelligent than others who do not speak as well.

What is your most valuable asset? Your mind. One of the most precious skills you have is your ability to think well and to express yourself clearly. This skill can help you earn more and get promoted faster as much as any other talent you can develop. After all, the only way you can demonstrate your mastery of a subject is by expressing your thoughts and ideas clearly aloud and in writing. When you speak well, people say, He really knows what hes talking about.

The good news is that your mind is like a muscle. It grows stronger and more capable with use. Organizing your thoughts and words in advance makes you more alert and aware of what you are saying and how you are saying it. The act of planning, preparing, and delivering talks and presentations forces you to use your mind at a higher level, and it actually makes you smarter.

Some years ago, I gave a one-day seminar on executive effectiveness to a group of businesspeople. During the talk I emphasized the importance of being able to speak well and influence people in business.

At the end of the day, a somewhat shy businessman came up to me and told me that, as a result of my comments, he had decided that he was going to learn how to be a good speaker. He was tired of being ignored by his supervisors and passed over for promotions.

A year later, I received a letter from him telling me his story. He had immediately taken action on his resolution. He joined a local chapter of Toastmasters and began attending weekly meetings. At each meeting, each member was required to stand up and speak on some subject, and each person was given a grade at the end of the meeting.

Toastmasters uses the process of systematic desensitization. This means that if you do something over and over, you finally become desensitized to it. When you speak repeatedly in front of others, you eventually lose your fears and misgivings.

He also took a Dale Carnegie course for 14 weeks. At each session, he was required to speak in front of his peers. Within six months, he had given so many long and short presentations to friendly groups of peers that most of his fear and anxiety about speaking was gone. In its place was a growing confidence in his ability to express himself to an audience.

At about this point in his growth and development, there was a small emergency at his engineering firm. One of the partners had been scheduled to give a presentation to the members of a client company. But the partner was ill and unable to make the meeting. The businessmans boss asked him if he would prepare and present the companys proposal instead. He accepted the assignment.

He prepared thoroughly throughout the evening and the following morning. He then went to the clients office, made an excellent presentation for the firms services, and got the business. When he returned to the office, his boss told him that the president of the prospective client had called and thanked him for sending someone to give such an excellent presentation of the firms services.

Within a few weeks, he was being sent out regularly to call on the firms prospects and clients. He was promoted, and then promoted again. Soon he was a member of senior management and on his way to becoming a partner. He told me that his whole life changed by making a decision to become a good speaker and following up that decision with specific actions.

Becoming an excellent public speaker will help you in every part of your career. But there is an even more important reason to learn to speak well to an audience. Psychologists tell us that your level of self-esteem, or how much you like yourself, largely determines the quality of your inner and outer life.

The better and more persuasively you speak, the more you like yourself. The more you like yourself, the more optimistic and confident you are. The more you like yourself, the more positive and personable you are in your relationships with others. The more you like yourself, the healthier, happier, and more positive you become in everything you do.

When you learn to speak effectively, your self-image improves as well. Your self-image is your inner mirror. Its the way you see yourself and think about yourself prior to and during any event. The more positive your self-image, the more competent your performance. The very act of visualizing yourself performing at your best prior to any event or activity will improve your performance.