Public Speaking Resources For Artists

Useful Websites

ArtBusiness.com
Provides complete art services, art appraisals, art price data, news, articles, and market information to art collectors, artists, and fine arts professionals.

Tom Antion
Get beneath the heavy sales copy and discover a huge amount of sensible information on how to speak in public.

Toastmasters International
Join a local chapter and get your feet wet. Here's where you can practice speaking in public in a safe environment.

National Speakers Association
Why not go for the professional group? Even if that's a bit more than you had in mind, the articles and tips on speaking in public are worth absorbing.

5000bc
Get inside the listeners mind - discover how to keep the audience's attention. Learn about the psychology of sales and marketing and how to harness it.

Books

Here's a couple of books on public speaking you might find useful.

Collins Complete Guide to Public Speaking - Speak in Public with Confidence by Jacey Lamberton

When my mother heard I had started to speak in public she sent me this book from England. I read it from cover to cover and found it very helpful.

I particularly like the section on Planning and Structure. This introduces the reader to Mind Mapping which is a painless way of getting information in your head down on paper. Before I learned how to do this it was hard for me to squeeze information out of my mind into a coherent plan. It made my brain ache!

There is a chapter on Personal Presentation which covers the physical side of dealing with speaking to an audience. You know, the stage fright, the wobbly voice etc. Speaking to the Media, which is a whole ball of wax in itself and a variety of other chapters taking you through the process of giving presentations and talks.

Best of all, the book is written in layman's terms with humour.

Writing the Natural Way by Gabriele Rico

This book was recommended to me by a friend when I was talking about learning to write. However, it has been invaluable in writing the skeleton of a speech. Mind mapping allows the words to come and then you can organise them into useful layouts.

The book is filled with exercises to help you loosen up. I believe it is geared more to finding your own voice to write with but I think artists will find it helpful in finding their own statement. Once you have then it's only one more step to speaking from your heart.

Online Mailing Lists and Forums

SpeakerNet News A email newsletter that comes out every Friday and is filled to the brim with helpful tips, links and resources for public speakers. I highly recommend signing on.

Rose Rushbrooke
Artist