Vega: Simple Speaking Steps

By Ted O. Padgett

My reason for writing this book concerning speaking is to present my four basic steps to help others as they speak! VEGA, the title of this book, comes from the name of one of the brightest stars in our universal galaxy. It is the "alpha star" of the planet Mercury constellation; it is also the brightest star in the northern Lyra group of stars. So Vega is a bright star! This book will use the term "VEGA" as an acronym to present my four steps for speaking. For example: V stands for the word "voice," E stands for "eye contact," G stands for "gestures," and A stands for "attitude." These four words will form the simple steps to help anyone speak like a star! Vega is a star!

It is my hope and desire that these simple steps for speaking will assist anyone as they speak and/or strive to communicate with others. These steps have been used by me for over fifty years to have a very successful career as a speaker. It has been in my heart to write this manuscript on speaking to show that anyone can overcome their fear of speaking in front of others by using my simple steps called VEGA!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798891576612

Book preview

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Vega

Simple Speaking Steps

Ted O. Padgett

Copyright © 2024 Ted O. Padgett

All rights reserved

First Edition

PAGE PUBLISHING

Conneaut Lake, PA

First originally published by Page Publishing 2024

ISBN 979-8-89157-619-3 (pbk)

ISBN 979-8-89157-661-2 (digital)

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

To my beloved wife, Anne, she has been my encouraging, faithful, and steady North Star in all the storms life has brought. Her special love for me has been one of the greatest gifts God has blessed me! Anne, I love you to the moon and back!

This book is also dedicated to the instructors assigned in the US Navy instructor's school, Naval Training Center, San Diego, California, from 1966–1969. It was there that I developed my Simple Speaking Steps.

Preface

Chapter 1

Background for the Book

Chapter 2

Setting Up the Steps

Chapter 3

V Stands for Voice

Chapter 4

E Stands for Eye Contact

Chapter 5

G Stands for Gestures

Chapter 6

A Stands for Attitude

Chapter 7

Lesson Planning

Chapter 8

Communicating with Comedy

Chapter 9

Some Sample Sermons

Bibliography

About the Author

Endnotes

To my beloved wife, Anne, she has been my encouraging, faithful, and steady North Star in all the storms life has brought. Her special love for me has been one of the greatest gifts God has blessed me! Anne, I love you to the moon and back!

This book is also dedicated to the instructors assigned in the US Navy instructor's school, Naval Training Center, San Diego, California, from 1966–1969. It was there that I developed my Simple Speaking Steps.

Preface

My reason for writing this book concerning speaking is to present my four basic steps to help others as they speak! VEGA, the title of this book, comes from the name of one of the brightest stars in our universal galaxy. It is the alpha star of the planet Mercury constellation; it is also the brightest star in the northern Lyra group of stars. So Vega is a bright star!¹ This book will use the term VEGA as an acronym to present my four steps for speaking. For example: V stands for the word voice, E stands for eye contact, G stands for gestures, and A stands for attitude. These four words will form the simple steps to help anyone speak like a star! Vega is a star!

It is my hope and desire that these simple steps for speaking will assist anyone as they speak and/or strive to communicate with others. These steps have been used by me for over fifty years to have a very successful career as a speaker. It has been in my heart to write this manuscript on speaking to show that anyone can overcome their fear of speaking in front of others by using my simple steps called VEGA!

Chapter 1

Background for the Book

There are very few people who do not have fear when speaking! This is a true statement. There are very few people who do not have fear when speaking in front of a group no matter the group size! It is just one of those events that brings fear when it is our turn to speak to a group of people-—our turn to stand up and speak in front of others!

The fear to speak became very clear and evident to me many years ago when I was serving in the US Navy stationed as part of the staff of the Naval Instructor's School in San Diego, California.

Because I was a confident speaker and made outstanding grades when attending the three-month instructor's school, they assigned me to the teaching staff as an instructor to teach others methods and techniques of speaking, their curriculum. It was a great joy to help others to become effective speakers (instructors) in the classroom.

The Naval Instructor's School would be my assigned military duty for almost three years. It was here that I learned how important effective speaking is! It was truly surprising to me how frightened people are at the process of speaking in front of a group of their own peers—wow!

The instructor school taught military officers and higher-ranked men of the enlisted corps who were to be assigned as classroom instructors. These men and women were taught how to develop a teaching lesson plan and to teach it to a classroom of students. By the way, this was one of the main objectives of the twelve-week school curriculum.

Sidenote: This was my favorite military duty of my entire career. My time spent here at the Naval Instructor's School was so enjoyable and fulfilling to see the teaching and speaking improvement of our students during this period. I became a master instructor, and it was here that I discovered and developed my VEGA: Simple Speaking Steps. We taught people to speak effectively in front of others and how to use some factors to help overcome and/or control the fear factor when speaking. Using my VEGA method, we helped the students to become stars in their speaking.

During this time, my method of VEGA became part of the US Navy's Instructor School Manual—by the way, this was a big deal! Years later in my military career, they temporarily assigned me to the Naval headquarters at New Orleans for two months to rewrite the new updated edition of the instructors manual. For the accomplishment of this task, I was awarded the United States Navy Achievement Medal. Yes, my VEGA: Simple Speaking Steps were included!

Speaking in front of any size of group is not an easy thing to do. Remember how you feel—the moment you have dreaded is here—because it is now your time to speak! The murmur is dying down as seats are taken, voices become hushed, and one pair of eyes after another begins to focus. Some faces are smiling in expectation while others stare blankly at you, all waiting for the show to start! Now you feel your throat closing, your heart pounding out of your chest, and your tongue drying up in your mouth. You try to smile, but your face feels as if it is paralyzed. Your rehearsed opening statement seems to have vanished from your memory, and all you can focus on is the feeling of panic that once again has taken complete control over your body and mind.

We've all been there—from the student giving an oral presentation at school and/or college to speaking or teaching a small group at work and/or church. It is very frightening and can cause many difficulties to you physically and even mentally. This fear and panic of speaking in public come to many people. It can unhinge anyone who interacts with others for any reason. It is nothing but old-fashioned stage fright. It affects some people so much that they avoid any type of meaningful social contact that requires any type of oral public speaking and/or public teaching.

Important: This fear and/or panic of speaking affects thousands of people and can keep a person from moving ahead professionally at their job and achieving their goals in life. It is for these people who suffer this terrible fear of speaking that I write this book.

As humans, we communicate confidently and effectively to be heard and get what we want in life. If fear keeps you from doing so, you find yourselves sitting on the sidelines of life.

By knowing my Simple Speaking Steps, anyone can be more confident and at ease as they speak! I'm hoping to ease your fears of speaking in public and overcome, once and for all, the panic symptoms that keep you from sharing your ideas with others. You have much to contribute, and you can triumph over your fear of speaking! You can and will get the victory of your speaking fear by using these steps. Just you wait and see how handy these steps will help you!

Fear of speaking in front of a group happens to anyone and everyone. Dr. Jerry Vines, one of my favorite preachers, tells this true story from his own life of the fear of speaking. He said, When God called me to be a preacher, I looked around to see who God meant! I knew the Lord God couldn't possibly mean me! No way could I speak in front of a group of people. No way could I ever preach! In fact, I took an aptitude test in my senior year of high school, and I was told that I should go into the science field or mathematics. It also said the two fields I should stay completely away from were speaking and writing. He continued. "So when God called me to preach, I was the most shocked person around—because I was the most unlikely candidate around. I was so fearful of speaking in front of people that I nearly flunked English in my junior year in high school. Everyone was to get up and give a five-minute talk in front of the class. I was terrified and panic-stricken every time I tried to stand up to speak. Many times, I started laughing, not because I was trying to be silly but because I was so scared to speak—I was plain