#How to Become a Great Public Speaker?

Undoubtedly this element will finally show and convince others about your confidence and fluency in English.

# I meet so many young students,professionals ,teachers and managers who come up to me after my training workshop and tell me that even though they have lot of ideas and good hold on English Grammar,they are still not able to speak with confidence.

#So what is it that one needs to do to become a great speaker?

#Let us discuss few important pointers and as usual not talking about easy breezy tips, I would love to share some powerful and practical tips today ,that will surely help you to improve your speaking skills:

#1. MT = MT stands for “Mirror Talk” , sounds cliche but it really works believe me I say so because I did this a lot myself. 

     I would like to acknowledge that I was a very reserved and a shy girl at school and college even though I had great ideas, I never had the courage to stand up and share those ideas but I soon realized after I stepped into the corporate arena that if my ideas were to be heard they have to wear my voice and it was then, that I decided I will do everything possible to improve my speaking skills.

     

I    I found my best friend in mirror and I started sharing everything with my friend before I could actually speak up in front of the others and it really helped,because mirror just like a true friend never interrupted and also it gave me regular feedback in terms of  my body language my confidence while I was speaking and rehearsing ,it gave me a clear picture about how and what I was speaking and I was wise enough to note every bit of it and hence I started working on it too.

     So the first tip is to do a lot of “MT” Mirror Talk, it is a lot of fun too believe me and it helps us to feel like a celebrity and I enjoyed every bit of it and let me share openly  that  “I do MT even today”  before going for my seminars, guest talks or motivational talks, I still practice in front of Mirror and it really adds to my confidence.

Surely there is a lot of psychology that goes behind it , like it helps you to see how confident you look , it helps you to add more intonations and on top of  it, this helps you to improve your facial gestures and body posture too.

Mirror is certainly a true friend, it supports and it encourages you to look good, feel good and sound good.

  

#2. Magical moment  of movements : Well, it plays certainly the biggest and the most powerful role in communication.

Some call it as Body language, some name it as “Non-Verbal” language and now the new term is ruling that is “Bio Language” however If I have to talk about my journey of connecting and communicating with professors, Teachers, students, friends and corporate geeks I would say I have always experienced a magical connect when I communicate with the confident bio language along with the words as it supports and add more power and grace to the words.

It could be as simple as a curve on my face while I greet and meet or it could be use of my hands to express my opinion and point during a training workshop.

So, do practice the magical technique and use these small yet powerful bio language tips to make you sound and look likes a celebrity and a true star.

Believe me just few quick tips that I am about to share will help you to work on your bio language.

1. Please use your hands and facial expressions along with the powerful words by understanding the meaning of the content first.

2. Always maintain an eye contact but do not stare at people and embarrass them and point to note here is

A. Always focus on the face of the other individual but not on their lips and cheeks

B. Focus on their forehead, eyes or at the bridge of their nose. So don’t keep your eyes glued at one position.

3. Use of hands confidently.

4.Feet Talk : We never focus on our feet, because we are so much into face , upper body posture that we ignore totally the feet talk.

A. We point our feet  towards the interesting zone, it could be people or that place so make sure you are not pointing your feet away from people you are talking to.

B. Stand confidently and while giving presentation or lectures you can move around slowly and as I am not an expert in body language but out of my experience I would just say that context is more important because one body language gesture could mean something else in a different context but the main idea here is to share the importance of the feet language too.

C. For ladies it looks very elegant when they sit with legs crossed at ankles.

 #3. Intonations : Well, language is like a river that flows ,and to speak in a beautiful flow we must master the art of Intonations too.

I strongly agree that being a non native speaker we need to practice this art however if you start to understand the words and have good vocabulary it will be easy to master this art of Intonations.

Well, let us define “Intonation”.

Simply put the high pitch and the low pitch in our voice, when we speak can be defined as Intonations and if you want a simple word to relate it means “Speech Music” .This speech music will help us to understand the meaning of the words better.

Let me support with an example.

When you understand what you speak and you make sense out of it, just like your mother tongue you don’t need to practice it separately just focus on understanding few concepts.

1. When you ask a question, your pitch will go high.

For instance: Could you please get me  a book ?

So this means that the sentence ending should be in high pitch.

2. If you are saying a simple statement or declarative you should have a low pitch .

My name is Anu.(Pitch will go down)

3. If you have many things to mention in one small sentence then you go in a flow.

For instance:

I love to study,dance,swim and travel.

So words like study, dance and swim will go in the same flow and the pitch will fall down with the word travel.

4.    Connect the words: When you practice speaking , please make sure not to stress on every word too much ,(remember that language is like a river it needs to flow)try to connect the ending of the word with the beginning of another word.

For Instance : Bob is on the phone

Will sound like  “Babizon da foun” If a native speaker will speak.

 #Points to remember:

·         Try to emphasize the important words or when you have something important to share and

·         Use a low pitch when you finish the sentence or when you see a period/full stop.

For Instance : 

Tomorrow I have a meeting at 4:00 clock. (Important information is meeting, so do stress on it )

4:00 clock (Pitch would go down as it is the last word in the sentence before the period).

Stretch the words: It is also seen that native speakers sometimes stretch the words where they want to draw attention.

Example : I request all of you (“Awwwlllll “instead of all ,so this word is stretched to show the stress and importance of the word “All”)

Contract the words(Squeeze two words) : Remember while you practice your speaking skills, in order to sound natural, please do learn to contract the words like  “Shouldn’t “ instead of “Should not”, ”Wouldn’t” instead of “would not” , “They’ve” instead of “They have”.

So it means two words are made shorter for speaking purpose by adding apostrophe as explained above.

 #4.JAM Sessions : Well, just as much as this word sounds sweet, so are the results, it is indeed a great exercise for the beginners to practice speaking these are “Just A Minute” sessions ,wherein you have to think about any topic randomly and quickly start talking about it without stopping and pondering too much, see how and what you will talk, your brain will try to talk continuously and certainly the tongue will support, its magical and entertaining too, you can play this JAM with your friends or even entire family ,just pick a simple or any topic of your choice that comes to your mind, like let me give you a few now:

1.Family

2.Challenge

3.English Language

So, hope you tried all the above three  topics and enjoyed it ,make sure you do this and later when you get time to think , do get some nice ideas dressed in beautiful words and vocabulary.

 #5.Grammar: When we talk about fluency in English most of us dread about the grammar part, but to be very frank we shall not worry about it so much as it is not a big deal to master all the tricky parts of grammar, all we need to speak fluent English is understanding of  few concepts like tenses, subject and verb agreement and I don’t think we need a separate grammar book to learn this because when we are reading, listening and speaking we are acquainting ourselves to these grammar concepts which will come naturally and the grammar that we are taught at school.

Having said that it doesn’t mean that you stop focusing on the grammar rules, as we are living in the era where technology is helping us learn so we shall make best use of it ; even today when I have few questions , I immediately check it on you tube and prepare my own notes (I maintain a separate notebook for Grammar ) as we have many videos which are presented by great English teachers in India and from teacher all over the world, so never stop learning.

Few days back in my English Grammar book I prepared the tenses chart , so you can also do the same to just keep going back to the nuts and bolts to stay correct and flawless .

And to add this tinge of confidence,please do register for my upcoming book titled "English & Business Etiquette" and just drop a line @ vinumanhotra@gmail.com

#Power Postures @ Work/Office.

Thanks to all the readers,mainly the young professionals and fresh graduates who are loving these blogs from my upcoming book "English and Business Etiquette".An employability guide.

 #Many of you have asked me to write about the body language,which is non technically and non officially also referred as "Bio Language" by many .

#So after having discussed "Power dressing"  let me quickly give you some great and important tips about the bio language.

#I will try  not to discuss the easy- breezy things and tips on body language today rather I'll be focusing more on the power postures and few impressive tips that will help you to not just look like a great professional but also it will make you feel like one great super star at work.

So let us dive deep into understanding those magical tips;

#As mentioned earlier in this blog I am sharing some of my secrets the magic tips from my own life, to help you all add more confidence and sunshine to your life.

1.Hands on : The number one tip for the power posture lies in your own hands.So, do remember the power that you ever wanted in your life is in your own hand gestures and I am very serious when I present this tip.

Because most of us underestimate the use of hand gestures while speaking and we give a lot of importance to the eye contact when it comes to connecting with people, but the truth is if you are able to use your hand gestures for supporting the words while speaking ,you will sound more trustworthy .

#It is very natural in some cases, which is absolutely true in my case too because it seems impossible for me to talk without using my hand gestures and it happens with everyone who speaks from the heart, be it a man or a woman you have to use your hand gestures while you talk and certainly not so much that you look weird but only use to support your words these gestures of hands make you look more trustworthy and honest and people listen to you.

For instance if I have to tell the audience that I have two (use hands to show the number/point because corresponding gesture will always help them to remember)very important details today to share with you all,people will listen and also retain that for long as you supported the verbal information with your hand gesture.

#Hand gestures are very powerful to convey your true emotions, sometimes when you are short of words.

#Just look at the picture below,yes it is me and this was certainly not a rehearsed moment,it shows that I am very happy and overwhelmed with the love,support and positive feedback from the participants at one of my training workshop.

#Many charismatic leaders ,speakers and corporate trainers use the hand gestures and communicate and connect well.

#Another very common and powerful hand gesture is known as the "Steeple " see the picture below.

Steeple your hands

The above picture shows the hand steeple, where the fingers are making a little "roof top", is showing a lot of confidence and authority. This hand gesture is very popular with the speakers, lawyers & political leaders. 

2.Acknowledgement : Please do remember while you communicate you are not just talking but also listening , and when you listen, do acknowledge.

Acknowledging is a simple way to show others that "Hey I am with you and I am listening to you".

As the first duty of love is to listen, so love the speaker and acknowledge them by "Listening" and we can acknowledge  by nodding or tilting our head when we are listening to one speaker at a huge gathering/training workshop or even at the business meetings at our workplace(Where we are a part of an audience) one should always contribute to these gatherings and meetings by nodding and also sometimes leaning a little forward,So that you listen well and even connect well with the speaker and while you communicate face to face in a group or with another person you can support these gestures with small acknowledging words like “Ahha” “Okay” " I understand" as these small words and gestures take us long way to connect with the speaker .

#You can actually infuse and imbue more energy to big gatherings and dull meetings at the workplace if you are acknowledging the speaker well.So do make your contribution even as a listener and be a great one!

3.Upright posture: while upright posture is very crucial and it goes without saying that a good posture  makes  you look great, assertive and a confident professional. It is not always easy to maintain it for long working hours however we should follow few pointers to avoid the bad posture at work because it makes us look lazy and also it might have detrimental affect on our health .

So make it a habit of getting up after an hour or so ,from your workstation and  just walk few steps to relax your body.It keeps you fit and active.

Another thing to have a good and upright posture is to improve workstation ergonomics.

4.Eye contact: Well, we all agree that this is the most talked about element of the non verbal language at work.

While no denying to the fact , do remember that too much eye contact is also considered as inappropriate and unprofessional.So if you are considered as an assertive and confident professional and if you go overboard with this non verbal prompt you will be not just making another person feel uncomfortable but also ruining your chances of being titled as a true professional.

So,when we talk about eye contact,it is very necessary to know that eye contact along with the  bridging technique is the most powerful technique to convey your message. 

And to learn and master the art of "Bridging" and other powerful postures  to communicate with your business associates or superiors at work.

Do send an email to get registered for my upcoming book titled "English and Business Etiquette".

you can drop me a line at vinumanhotra@gmail.com

#Business casual is certainly not so casual!

"Dressing well, shows your manners and it is also a creative way of expressing who you are,without having to use words"

#However I will be very honest,that the biggest challenge for me as an HR Head was to come up with a "Business casual" dress code .

#Casual Fridays and Smart casuals, were few terms that made my job even more complex while framing few guidelines for my company.As there are no set rules for business casuals and mainly it depends upon the workplace,the culture and mainly the nature of work itself.

# So, I decided to take few tips from an Indian professional, and I was lucky that I met this gentleman who introduced himself as Mr.Bengal ,he was the 1st runner up of Mr.Bengal aka "Sharad Ghosh" and the first thing that he crisply told me, when I happened to discuss my confusion about the "business casual" was that "business casual never mean you only think of getting away from the business formals; all you need to remember is just having a little relaxed look and the focus should be on the term Business".

#And he also said that, when in doubt it is always good to stay in more formal look than going for more casual look.

#So let me now present to you all some great tips ; after having understood in detail about the business casuals from Sharad,who is also working as a counselor at INIFD (Siliguri) apart from being a well known face in modeling.

Let us first try to decode this confusion for lovely ladies @work.

Business Casuals for women in India:

Let us first try and understand what exactly is the business casual.

#Style of clothing that is less formal than the ( formal )business wear, however it still gives a professional and businesslike impression as it is worn at the workplace.

# Don’t let the word casual stay in your mind, while dressing on Fridays and Saturdays keep workplace in mind; is a simple rule for the Business casuals, that are allowed in many Indian offices on weekends.

#Western business casual dress for women mainly include slacks, Khakis and chinos, Long skirts (knee length Skirts) and business dress. A cowl neck top or a boat neck silk top would look great. or neatly ironed cotton shirts always look great and you can be creative with colors mainly during daytime business events on weekends. Avoid wearing jeans and T-shirts.

#My personal choice would be to pick something which is free spirited and feminine and that would be from my recent favorite “Fable street”  it is certainly a match for any women, trying to flaunt the bold, creative or a complete professional look. It certainly offers something unique and absolutely Wow.

#In ethinic Indian wear, you can flaunt Kurtas with palazzo or Salwar kameez. Avoid wearing the leggings (slex) with Long Kurtis, instead go for Salwar or a simple trouser.

#The best store to shop for kurtis and kurtas in India is “Khadi India” clothing store in Connaught place, New delhi.

#Do remember it is always good to wear a stole/scarf or a jacket.Even though if you are going outside the office for daytime event and you pick an ethnic Indian wear ;better wear a complete look and I believe that a kurti goes with a stole or scarf pretty well.

#Casual jackets.

# Sweaters in winters with different patterns and colors.

#You can carry your colorful handbag and wear accessories matching your attire.

#Open toe shoes and sandals however don’t wear flats and flip flops even on weekends.

Business Casuals for Men in India:

#Number one rule is don’t get too sporty.

# "poor man's velvet," which is popularly known as corduroy is a popular choice for business casual along with Chinos,Khakis and cotton pants keeping the “Jeans” away.

# Polo shirts , shirts in a variety of colors, though not too bright, and if the shirt is 100% Linen, I highly recommend it because linen shirts are best for hot and humid temperature as they are good conductor of heat and your linen attire will remove perspiration  and will offer you maximum breath-ability and keeps you cool.

# Sweaters and turtlenecks in winter with different patterns and casual jackets.

#Loafer shoes with socks on and leather shoes and for some outdoor events even sneakers are good choice if they are kept clean and dirt free.

# Do match your belt and shoes with your overall look.

So remember that even when you wear business casuals, you still need to appear well groomed, neat and a true professional at work (With a little relaxed look).

#To get more insights you have to wait for my upcoming book titled "English and Business Etiquette" and to register for this book please email me at loyal.anu@gmail.com

#Do you know , Reading Aloud and Notes Help !

READING MAKES ME HAPPY,READING MAKES ME LOVE LIFE.  

ALL YOU NEED TO FIX THE WORRIES ;IS JUST A BOOK AND A CUP OF COFFEE!

So out of the four elements of leaning a new language, I would like to present to you all the "Reading Element" and I am sure that once you follow these tips,you will thank me for helping you with very simple yet powerful tips!

#These tips will certainly take you to the next level in learning any new language and not just English language for that matter.

#So without any delay let us go straight into the topic and the tip number one is " LRS"

       #LRS  = Well, I call it as “Loud reading sessions”.

When we begin to learn any new language, we need to keep in mind that we should  enjoy learning ,so be it a reading element,Writing,speaking or Listening, we should make it interesting.

#So when you are trying to work upon your reading element, please choose the right reading material which interests you, for instance, if you are someone who likes to read poetry get a poetry book or if you are someone who loves the technology, you can read something related to IT and latest trends, that will keep you happy and active and when you are not bored, you tend to give your best. So obvious isn’t it!

So grab your favorite magazine, books, Editorials or Essays  and start reading that’s it!

No, not exactly that will not help, though most of us while learning a new language  really try hard and give our best and read good magazines, journals and books but what we really miss out on is reading it  "loud".

So we need to focus on this thing that, when we read silently, we are not making our tongue practice at all and it is our mind which is at work and it is the mind alone, that is doing the entire reading and our tongue is at rest; hence this could really ruin our progress of speaking fluently.

Because Mind while reading silently assumes that we are able to read the words and when required we will be able to pronounce it,but remember that this is just an assumption,the real practice of any word is done by the "Tongue" 

Hence as a beginner (in a new language) what one must do, to go to the next level , is to set a fixed time ,not over 20 to 30 minutes for loud reading sessions ,so spending just half an hour out of 24 hours is certainly not a big deal, if you want to master a new language. 

# RWR  = “Recording While Reading” is another great technique. As an HR Manager I have learnt and understood  one thing very well and that  is, power of “Assessment /Measurement” because “things that cannot be measured ,cannot be improved ” so it is necessary to keep a record of your practice sessions and measure or assess your daily improvement that will help you to see your own improvement graph .

So what exactly you have to do?

You have to clutch to your digital companions, and start recording, while you read aloud ,so the best companion for the RWR sessions are your Cell phones for sure; so use them to record your voice.

#What will happen if I record my Voice?

That is an obvious question, well, I endorse this RWR sessions because I have done it myself, when I was at GECIS (GE Capital International Services) and as a fresh graduate, who was campus selected was given a tall order to remember and learn new words, pronunciations and vocabulary and whenever I read these new words loud , I recorded them and when I heard my own recordings, new words were so easy for me to remember and I could actually listen to my own pronunciation and see how much I am improving in every recording.

So listening to your own voice helps you to learn new words too and certainly gives you the much required “Tongue Practice”.

#And the best part was that I was able to track my own performance.

# So I strongly recommend all the beginners to record your  “LRS” and  make it a habit to also listen to your recording after 3 or four days so that you can see the improvement yourself by comparing your first recording to the latest one and when you see this comparison you will be amazed to find the vast difference. Hence always track of your learning and improvement.

3.    #RWC = “Reading with Coach” yes indeed this is another tip that will help you in your reading element. When you are reading all alone it will certainly give you a lot of tongue practice however when you are just beginning to learn a new language it is better that you do most of your reading sessions in presence of someone who can guide you, it could be your teacher, friend or your parents so that they can give you the exact feedback and we all know how important the feedback is when we want to improve.

4.    #RTU: “Read to understand” This is the  most important part of reading element, just remember we are not doing these recordings and loud reading sessions just to read  but the main idea is to understand the message of the text ,to actually get to know its meaning .

#So I request all the learners that after few days of loud reading practice ,may be after 15 days please start reading and understanding the text and the best way to do so ,is to practice the “Reading Comprehensions” as it will provide you with some questions and you have to look for the answers in the text provided so you can check out your understanding .

#Other great way of understanding any text is to have a good dictionary with you,search the meanings of new words and also take help of Thesaurus , a book which will help you to expand your vocabulary , as Thesaurus contains synonyms.

#Also take notes , when you read and you understand the main idea, simply put it down on the paper , a very useful technique not just for Comprehension passage but to improve your understanding of any complex and new information presented.

#You can either draw an image of that main idea , with different color ,while you make notes, keep the notes clean so that brain remembers it clearly as we all know, visuals are very powerful ways to retain the new information in our minds.

#Technically we call it “Mind Mapping” but my advice is don’t make it too complicated but while you read , always understand the content, write down the main idea or draw its picture, even when you come across a new word, relate it with some visual draw it on your notebook.

And before I wrap this piece, I want to share a very popular quote on Reading which says "Today a Reader,Tomorrow a Leader" and that is absolutely true....So read more and explore more and live more !!

In case you have any questions please do send in your questions at vinumanhotra@gmail.com

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