There are many approaches to coaching new skills like public speaking. At Speechworks, we strongly favor the carrot rather
than the stick.
When learning something new, I’ve been on the receiving end
of both carrots and sticks over the years. The sticks tend to be the
experiences that well.. stick.. but not for the right reasons.
I was placed into school at the age of four having learned
to read early. My parents read to me
often, demonstrated reading out loud and gently corrected me in the moment as I
tried it myself. Math was a different animal.
My teacher in the class called “sums” was essentially theCreature from the Black Lagoon. Mrs Harrison would grit her teeth and wield a wooden ruler like a Samurai sword. I would be summoned to the front of the class and handed a clammy piece of chalk. She would then count to ten as I fecklessly attempted to complete the sum she had etched on the blackboard. The experience was nothing short of sheer terror as she crescendoed at “ten” and delivered a walloping slap to the back of my legs that stung like the blazes and stayed red all day as testament to my numerical shame.
For me, at least, this was not the way to foster confidence in math. In fact, I still break out in a sweat when faced with basic mental arithmetic.
These days, I coach spoken communication, and recognize the
distinctive pall of fear that envelops the face of a student who would rather
jump off a tall building than deliver a small speech. That fear can rise to
epic proportions when they learn they’re also going to be filmed doing it.
That’s when their eyes flit towards the door as they contemplate making a run
for it. ...Read More 
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