Post from Transformation Tom- Listen to Yourself After You’re Done Listening to Everyone Else— Chapter “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide” from the section “The Anxiety”

December 18, 2023 / tomdowd / News

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Besides listening to your heart pitter-patter out of control, you should absorb all of the feedback provided to you. You will get feedback from multiple sources. Be a sponge and take it all in. It’s important to maintain a thick skin and truly think about the feedback provided, to determine how it can most enhance your presentation. Once you’ve adequately taken it all in, you should then decide if it is right for you. We all become better when we get help. We should thirst for feedback.

It’s important to understand, however, that you are not required to adopt all of it. You can find a middle ground. The balanced approach says that you appreciate and respect the feedback, but you are ultimately the final decision maker in what you choose to present and how you present it. This fact alone should give you the comfort and confidence that you are presenting a work that you will be proud of, and that you believe in your message. It is your message. If someone’s suggestions ever cause any deviation from this, you should determine whether or not you really want to take that feedback. It is not easy saying no to someone who presented you with the gift of feedback, but you must remember that you are the one standing at the podium.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

Down the Chute: A Toboggan Tale (children’s book)
Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

advice, anxiety, author, be different, book, business, business development, Business Training, change, Coach, coaching, communication, Communications, Confidence, control, development, Dowd, excuses, fear, gestures, growth, Inspiration, leadership, Management, Marketing, mental, Motivation, Networking, orator, Personal, personal growth, personality, physical, practice, preparation, prepare, professional advice, Professional Development, public-speaking, relax, Résumé, Résumé Writing, speaker, speaking, stage, strength, success, tense, tension, Thomas, Thomas Dowd, tom, Tom Dowd, training, transformation, transformation tom, transformationtom, visualize success

Post from Transformation Tom- It’s Alright to Have a “Stage” Me— Chapter “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide” from the section “The Anxiety”

December 11, 2023 / tomdowd / News

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It almost seems contradictory to have a section about finding your personal niche immediately followed by how different you may appear on stage. Let me explain. My wife watched some of my speeches and videos in disbelief and commented how different I was on stage. I was different on stage, to some extent, for many reasons. My confidence level had been rising, and I was developing an emerging personality comfortable enough at a podium to send strong messages. All of this is much different from sitting around the dinner table chatting. The stage me is still the “real” me; I am not being an actor up on stage. I couldn’t be acting and still genuinely believe that my message would effectively relate and connect with the audience.

As my confidence continued to soar, I began to reconnect the stage me with the off-stage me. I’m sure I’ve narrowed the gap a little, but there will still most likely be differences. The important point is that it is still me up there. If you remember, I am typically introverted naturally, so I had to work hard on my stage presence to ensure I had the right impact. When I first videotaped myself, I had to ask, “Is that really me?” The answer was always yes. When I received feedback that I looked different on stage or on camera, I was all right with that. It is always fun trying different material and in some cases pushing the limits of my personality, to meet audience needs. You need to be comfortable knowing that there may be a different stage you, and feel good about the fact that that can still be the real you.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

Down the Chute: A Toboggan Tale (children’s book)
Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

advice, anxiety, author, be different, book, business, business development, Business Training, change, Coach, coaching, communication, Communications, Confidence, control, development, Dowd, excuses, fear, gestures, growth, Inspiration, leadership, Management, Marketing, mental, Motivation, Networking, orator, Personal, personal growth, personality, physical, practice, preparation, prepare, professional advice, Professional Development, public-speaking, relax, Résumé, Résumé Writing, speaker, speaking, stage, strength, success, tense, tension, Thomas, Thomas Dowd, tom, Tom Dowd, training, transformation, transformation tom, transformationtom, visualize success

Post from Transformation Tom- Be Different—Be You- Chapter “From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide” from the section “The Anxiety”

December 4, 2023 / tomdowd / News

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We see a speaker we enjoy, and we often want to be like him or her. Instead of emulating that person, however, try taking some of the things you like about the speaker and adding them to your repertoire. Some great things about great speakers should be copied: some speakers use vocal variety well, others have a strong stage presence, and still others can tell a story simply with their hand gestures and facial expressions. You should, however, find what makes you who you are and strengthen that. Your success will be based on your ability to connect with an audience and have them take away your messages. Audiences should remember you for your signature style, not because you speak like (insert name here). While you grow as a speaker, find what has worked for you and keep refining it. Your niche is there; it just needs to be nourished. I watched plenty of videos of Toastmasters World Champions of Public Speaking and other successful presenters, but it was when I began to simply watch, listen, and enjoy the speeches rather than trying to copy them that I truly felt like I was making progress in achieving my goals.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

Down the Chute: A Toboggan Tale (children’s book)
Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com. Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

advice, anxiety, author, be different, book, business, business development, Business Training, change, Coach, coaching, communication, Communications, Confidence, control, development, Dowd, excuses, fear, gestures, growth, Inspiration, leadership, Management, Marketing, mental, Motivation, Networking, orator, Personal, personal growth, personality, physical, practice, preparation, prepare, professional advice, Professional Development, public-speaking, relax, Résumé, Résumé Writing, speaker, speaking, strength, success, tense, tension, Thomas, Thomas Dowd, tom, Tom Dowd, training, transformation, transformation tom, transformationtom, visualize success