Stanford Lecturer Molds Confident Public Speakers

Written by Beatrice Karnes

If the thought of giving a presentation paralyzes you with fear, you’re certainly not alone. But savvy employees and business owners know that inferior public speaking skills will hold back their careers and earnings.

Los Altos resident Matt Abrahams teaches at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and works to transform speaking wimps into confident communicators. If you’re not among the elite at GSB, he’s written a book to share the information with the rest of us. Speaking Up Without Freaking Out: 35 Techniques for Confident, Calm, and Competent Presenting conveys practical tips to overcome anxiety, along with background information about why you feel that anxiety.

“The expectation of the audience is not that you’re perfect,” Abrahams told KPIX, “the audience is there to learn something from you and they expect you to be normal. If you’re overly robotic or overly scripted –that actually does you a disservice.”

Abrahams emphasizes that a presentation is not a performance—meaning that there is no single way to give your presentation. There are better ways and worse ways, but not just one perfect way.

His most important tip—pause and take a deep breath.  Do it before you speak and while you speak. It will help you appear more confident.

According to Abrahams, your presentation should cover three core questions:

1. What is it?
2. So what?
3. Now what?

If you’re interested in hearing Abrahams speak, he’ll give a free workshop at the San Francisco Public Library on September 3.  He has also taught courses at DeAnza College.  In addition, he's the co-founder of the business coaching firm  Bold Echo Communication Solutions.