Some of the biggest forces known to man - self doubt and it's parent, fear. To overcome them we have to solve a paradox. You cannot truly have self belief without success. Success will not happen to those with self doubt. Do the words "chicken" and "egg" come to mind?

It is actually very easy to break this paradox in theory - very hard in practice. So lets deal with the theory first.

Success in theory

Anyone well versed in recruitment knows that they should only employ people whose life is littered with successes - no matter how small. They avoid people who have had "bad luck" and start their sentences with "If only…". They understand that the key to self belief is a series of successes - often small successes. If you find someone who has been used to success, grab them!

This is all that is needed. A long series of successes. Their magnitude is not important. There can even be the odd failure interdispersed along this path of proficiency. The part of the brain affected by this is not rational, it is emotional. Consider the elation at succeeding at hop-scotch when 6 and passing your driving test at 17. All beliefs come from emotions that in turn are based on experience.

Success is difficult in practice as there are few activities we take part in that offers real challenges that are small enough and are encompassed in a structured support system to guarantee the necessary string of successes that register as real victories in our subconscious.

Success in Practice

Enter stage left - public speaking the ASC way! As speaking in public is the number one fear on the List of Fears, the challenge is real. In fact it is so real that decades of development of our public speaking course have been directed to this one barrier - fear.

Can you speak one-on-one? Just about everybody can. Then you speak in public. So you see, what ASC have been doing for years has been developing a course in success, a course to conquer fear. They just didn't know it. They thought they were developing a course in public speaking. Instead the invented a kick-ASC cource in confidence.

By experimentation, luck and some design they have come up with the near perfect formula for becoming successful. By the way, it also teaches you the skills necessary to become good at public speaking!!

Tongue in Cheek? No!

Ignore the light hearted style of writing, learning to speak in public is genuinely life transforming. It is well grounded. It does not require you to chant mantras of self belief while washing your teeth. "I'm a winner. I'm really really a winner". There is no nonsense like walking on hot coals. It does not try and psyche you up to fever pitch so that you are robbed of your normal reason. It certainly does not promise instant results. Quite the opposite.

If you come on our programme, you should allow 2 speaking seasons (usually 2 years). This slow maturation process is important. A string of successes over a couple of weeks or usually 1 day if you go on a commercial training course will not imprint the necessary skills and behaviours in any permanent way.

Not only has there to be a long period to inculcate yourself with the skills and beliefs, there is the question of practice. Ask any sportsman what is the most important factor in their success and they will all say "practice". Some of our members within ASC are members of more than one club to get double the practice in a safe environment.

Fun

So how do you last the course? Well that is the easy bit. Our members all agree that being a member of ASC and the City of London Speakers in particular is fun and worth doing for its entertainment value alone.