4 Tips in Public Speaking from Dale Carnegie

If there ever was master of public speaking, that would be Dale Carnegie. Don’t get me wrong. I have never actually heard the man speak. I couldn’t even if I wanted to since he died of Hodgkin’s disease on November 1955. And I was born of July 1987. So…Yeah. You guys do the Math. Not that I didn’t try. I googled him and tried to find a video of him in YouTube. But I couldn’t find any. I guess video cameras weren’t in use around the early 1990’s yet. But even if I have never heard him speak I know that he was a great speaker. When I read his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, I was blown away by the ideas he presented. The core idea of his book is that you can change the behavior of other people by changing your reaction to them. For those who haven’t read this book yet, READ IT. Seriously. It’s a must read for people who want to succeed in life. Another book of Dale Carnegie that I’d recommend is How to Develop Self Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking. This book is essential for people who want to be better speakers. I have listed down an excerpt from the book.

These are 4 tips in public speaking from Dale Carnegie.

1.       Start with a strong and persistent desire. Enumerate the benefits this effort to train yourself will bring you. Arouse your enthusiasm for it. Think what it can mean to you financially, socially and in terms of increased leadership and influence. Remember that upon the depth of your desire will depend the swiftness of your progress.

2.       Prepare. You can’t feel confident unless you know what you are going to say.

3.       Act confident. “To feel brave,” advises Professor William James, “act as if we were brave, use all of our will to that end, and a courage fit will very likely replace the fit of fear.”

4.       Practice. This is the most important of all. Fear is the result of a lack of confidence; and a lack of confidence is the result of not knowing what you can do; and that is caused by lack of experience. So get a record of successful experiences behind you, and your fears will vanish.