Positive Attitude for Public Speaking

00:00 Just having a positive attitude really help when it comes to public speaking skills.

00:12 Folks, I got to tell you, I'm not a big fan of the secret.

00:14 I'm not a big fan of those people who visualize your success and feel good, and you're going to be rich and famous.

00:21 But public speaking actually is one of the few things in life where simply having a positive attitude, simply acting like you're great helps.

00:30 Now you and I can go out on the golf course today and I can say, Well, I'm going to be like Tiger Woods. I'm going to add a hole in one after holding one.

00:36 I'm going to get out there, shank, hook, slice.

00:43 I'm going to shoot 180, and that's cheating.

00:45 My attitude is going to have absolutely no impact on my golf game because I lack certain fundamental skills, and I'm not very good at golf. Public speaking is different.

00:58 It's one of the few things in life we're simply acting upbeat.

01:02 Acting like you're having fun helps all great speakers. When you see them in action, you get the sense that they are having the time of their life. Zig Ziglar when he was over 80 years old, you saw him speaking, and he seemed like a man half his age.

01:22 Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Rudy Giuliani.

01:25 When you see them speaking again, we're not talking politics here.

01:27 All across the spectrum, when you see them speaking, they look like they're having so much fun. They would be paying you for the right to speak if you weren't already paying them a fortune.

01:39 So it's hard to think to fake.

01:42 I understand that, but you've got to get yourself psyched up because simply by acting like you're having fun telling yourself, this is good. I hate to sound like Stuart Smalley or the old Saturday Night Live character. Al Franken.

01:57 But it really is true with public speaking, just acting like you're having fun, acting like you're good.

02:04 Smiling a little does rub off on the audience.

02:07 There is a crowd psychology.

02:10 The more they sense that you're having fun, that you feel like you're good, the more your audience will actually feel like you're good.

02:16 So attitude isn't everything when it comes to speaking, but it does help a great deal.