Tuesday, January 9, 2007

Have You Got The Wrong Look?


I often meet people on my travels who tell me how their appearence means they'd never be taken seriously as a public speaker.

Given the opportunity, they'll elaborate with great gusto about how they have too many handicaps stacked against them - not the right look, too fat/too thin, to tall/to short, big teeth, floppy hair...and on and on it goes!

So, hands up who has heard of Anthony Robbins? Big tall, big teethed, formerly of the floppiest (and considerably goofy looking) hair I've ever seen, Tony didn't come out of the womb with all guns blazing.

What about Hitler? He was, short, had a ridiculous mustache and none too many good hair days, not to mention some bad ass pants.

Gandhi? Small, skinny, wearing an over sized diaper and NO hair to speak of!

Well, I could go on here, but I'm guessing you've got the point...

Was there Ever A Better Reason To Become A Public Speaker?

Sex 'cuts public speaking stress'

Forget learning lines or polishing jokes - having sex may be the best way to prepare for giving a speech.

New Scientist magazine reports that Stuart Brody, a psychologist at the University of Paisley, found having sex can help keep stress at bay.

However, only penetrative intercourse did the trick - other forms of sex had no impact on stress levels at all. Professor Brody monitored how various forms of sex affected blood pressure levels in a stressful situation.

For a fortnight, 24 women and 22 men kept diaries of how often they engaged in various forms of sex.

Then they underwent a stress test involving public speaking and performing mental arithmetic out loud.

Volunteers who had had penetrative intercourse were found to be the least stressed, and their blood pressure returned to normal faster than those who had engaged in other forms of sexual activity such as masturbation.

Those who abstained from any form of sexual activity at all had the highest blood pressure response to stress.

Dr Brody found that the effect remained even after taking differences in personality and other health-related factors into account.

Nerves stimulated

He told the BBC News website it was possible the calming effect was linked to the stimulation of a wide variety of nerves which takes place during heterosexual intercourse, but not other forms of sex.

In particular, the vagal nerve plays a role in controlling some psychological processes. In addition, the release of the hormone oxytocin during sex might have a calming effect.

Professor Brody said it made sense in evolutionary terms for standard heterosexual sexual intercourse to be associated with a wide range of positive effects on behaviour.

He said: "A growing body of research shows that it is specifically intercourse, and not other sexual behaviours, whether alone or with a partner, that is associated with a broad range of psychological and physiological benefits. "And greater frequency of intercourse is associated with greater benefits."

But Dr Peter Bull, a social and political psychologist at the University of York, said there were other ways to prepare for a speech that were more likely to reduce stress.

He said: "You are probably better off thinking about what you are going to say, and preparing thoroughly, rather than having sex the previous night."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4646010.stm

Now maybe I'm misreading this, but could this signal that Public Speaking is the new Rock 'n Roll? - I knew 2007 was going to be a good year...

Don

Be Remarkable To Stand Out

The magnificant marketing egg-headed Seth Godin published these 10 steps to being remarkable in the Guardian. There is a lot here for public speakers to consider...

You're either boring or you stand out. You're either invisible or remarkable. And, all your life, everyone has been pushing you to fit in. All your life you're told to keep your head down, work hard, don't make waves and get it done. What rubbish. Here, in 10 easy steps, is how to grow. How to stand out. How to get noticed, make a difference and have a shot at the big time.

1. Understand the urgency of the situation. Half-measures simply won't do. The only way to grow is to abandon your strategy of doing what you did yesterday, but better. Commit.

2. Remarkable doesn't mean remarkable to you. It means remarkable to me. Am I going to make a remark about it? If not, then you're average, and average is for losers.

3. Being noticed is not the same as being remarkable. Running down the street naked will get you noticed, but it won't accomplish much. It's easy to pull off a stunt, but not useful.

4. Extremism in the pursuit of remarkability is no sin. In fact, it's practically a requirement. People in first place, those considered the best in the world, these are the folks that get what they want. Rock stars have groupies because they're stars, not because they're good looking.

5. Remarkability lies in the edges. The biggest, fastest, slowest, richest, easiest, most difficult. It doesn't always matter which edge, more that you're at (or beyond) the edge.

6. Not everyone appreciates your efforts to be remarkable. In fact, most people don't. So what? Most people are ostriches, heads in the sand, unable to help you anyway. Your goal isn't to please everyone. Your goal is to please those that actually speak up, spread the word, buy new things or hire the talented.

7. If it's in a manual, if it's the accepted wisdom, if you can find it in a Dummies book, then guess what? It's boring, not remarkable. Part of what it takes to do something remarkable is to do something first and best. Roger Bannister was remarkable. The next guy, the guy who broke Bannister's record wasn't. He was just faster ... but it doesn't matter.

8. It's not really as frightening as it seems. They keep the masses in line by threatening them (us) with all manner of horrible outcomes if we dare to step out of line. But who loses their jobs at the mass layoffs? Who has trouble finding a new gig? Not the remarkable minority, that's for sure.

9. If you put it on a T-shirt, would people wear it? No use being remarkable at something that people don't care about. Not ALL people, mind you, just a few. A few people insanely focused on what you do is far far better than thousands of people who might be mildly interested, right?

10. What's fashionable soon becomes unfashionable. While you might be remarkable for a time, if you don't reinvest and reinvent, you won't be for long. Instead of resting on your laurels, you must commit to being remarkable again quite soon.

http://money.guardian.co.uk/workweekly/story/0,,1983601,00.html#article_continue


A remarkable speach is really the only kind worth making!

Don