What Birmingham International Speakers Do
Birmingham International Speakers Club (BISC) are based in Birmingham and currently meet at the Moseley Exchange and are part of POWERtalk Great Britain.
We pride ourselves in offering a tailored approach to coaching where we discover what your objectives and ambitions are and coach you to achieve them. Our meetings are suitable for anyone wanting to build confidence and leadership skills no matter what level of experience. Our meetings are non–threatening and 100% constructive, we build your level of skill providing you with feedback that will help you grow and grow.
We understand how terrifying it can be for some to speak up and be heard, even the most seasoned speaker still gets nervous, so imagine how improved your life would be with that fear removed! Our members have gone on to gain promotions, land new roles and have delivered speeches to massive audiences, all something that they only ever dreamed of.
The format of a typical club meeting can vary quite a bit but most of our normal meetings tend to include four main elements:
- Two to four prepared speeches of 5-8 minutes, which are timed and evaluated so that members can learn from their experience. This evaluation is seen as real positive feedback as members strive for constant improvement in their performances.
- After coffee there is normally a workshop, prepared and delivered by a chosen member or by an invited speaker, to demonstrate a certain approach to communication or to educate the group with very specific techniques.These workshops can be formal training sessions or indeed often group involvement sessions.
- The club update
- Learning and development — our meetings end with four questions to help each individual reflect on what they have gained from the evening’s meeting.
Meetings are currently held monthly on the fourth Wednesday in the month. Most meetings commence at 7.30pm and normally finish at 9.30
As the club is essentially about speaking, all members take turns to perform the meeting “functionary” roles that include Programme Presenter, Evaluator and Timekeeper; these are also opportunities to develop certain skills for use within the world of business
There is a quarterly planning session when all the ideas put forward are considered and, when possible, planned into one of the next 6 meetings. All members contribute to the planning ideas, which helps to keep the meetings interesting and challenging.
Key skills to speaking
Why do we speak? When we speak, we aim to:
- inform;
- convince;
- persuade;
- entertain;
- stimulate;
- impress; and
- motivate
In order for communication to take place there needs to be a transmitter and a receiver, a speaker or presenter, and an audience. Both elements are essential in the communication process and a continuous interaction between the two elements needs to be maintained for the communication to be effective, for the presenter to be successful and for the audience to be satisfied.
BISC focuses on the presenter’s physical delivery of the presentation, whilst also focusing on the content of the speech or presentation, the audience and the environment in which the presentation is being delivered.
It is a fact that positive body language and paralanguage (voice, stance, eyes), when pleasant and attractive and interesting to look at, will also increase the listening attention of the audience. Good presentation is of the utmost importance — people will decide whether they want to listen to you by how you look.
There are three main aspects that are important for a successful delivery:
- Image — to capture the listening of the audience
- Vocal effectiveness — to control listening of the audience
- Body language — the double slam — to hold the full attention of the audience up to the final word.
This forms the three-step approach to any presentation, speech or report. For a small audience, the first and the second steps will be adequate, but for a larger audience, all three steps need to be present for a successful presentation.
Apart from a good image, the following eight techniques need to be mastered in order to be in control of our presentation and to communicate with confidence:
- pace;
- facial expression;
- pitch;
- hand gestures;
- projection;
- stance;
- pause; and
- eye contact.
Key categories of speech
BISC focuses on the presenter’s physical delivery of the presentation, whilst also focusing on the content of the speech or presentation, the audience and the environment in which the presentation is being delivered.
It is a fact that positive body language and paralanguage (voice, stance, eyes), when pleasant and attractive and interesting to look at, will also increase the listening attention of the audience. Good presentation is of the utmost importance — people will decide whether they want to listen to you by how you look.
There are three main aspects that are important for a successful delivery:
- Image — to capture the listening of the audience
- Vocal effectiveness — to control listening of the audience
- Body language — the double slam — to hold the full attention of the audience up to the final word.
This forms the three-step approach to any presentation, speech or report. For a small audience, the first and the second steps will be adequate, but for a larger audience, all three steps need to be present for a successful presentation.
Why Us?
- At BISC we provide a friendly environment and structured programme for you to develop,both personally and professionally.
- Regular attendance will make you a stronger, more confident speaker, presenter and leader.
- BISC provides an informal environment where members enjoys themselves and forge new friendships whilst developing their communication skills.
- BISC in an investment in YOU!
- Increasing self-belief will make YOU a stronger, more confident speaker, presenter and leader.
Come along and see for yourself what we are all about:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/birmingham-international-speakers-club-moseley-birmingham-tickets-165645202259