The Psychology of the Sport of Speaking – Motivation. Whinks

Introduction. What makes an athlete train day in, day out, in all weathers, all year round? Why do they want to improve? What is driving them to strive for success? Success itself? To be the best that you can be in your chosen sport or activity.

What Motivates Us? We may be fortunate enough to be able to lead and guide ourselves. Many of us will rely on a primary coach. We may call on a group of trusted older graduates. Intrinsic & Extrinsic

Goal Setting Before you start to set goals, you should try to consider the background to goal setting itself: Understanding your commitment to the sport (of speaking). Understanding the level you want to reach within the sport (of speaking) Knowing the skills that will have to be acquired and the levels of performance that will be needed.

General Guidelines. Positive Statement: Express your goals positively. Be Precise. Set Priorities. Record Goals. Keep immediate Goals Small.

Set Specific Goals. Set specific measurable goals. If you achieve all aspects of a measurable goal, then you can be confident in your achievement or that of your graduate. If you consistently fail to meet a measurable goal, then you can adjust it or analyse why you have not succeeded. After analysis, you can take appropriate action and approach it from a different angle. Or set smaller targets to build up to the larger goal.

Set Realistic Goals. Goals may be set unrealistically high for the following reasons: –Other peoples influence. –Insufficient information on the situation. –Always expecting your best performance. –Lack of self-respect and knowledge of your own limits.

Setting Goals Too Low Alternatively goals can be set too low because of: –Fear of failure (Where have we heard that before?) –Not willing to put in the effort required: Time Complacency

Setting Goals at the Right Level. Skill that is which can only be gained through practice. Set goals so that they are slightly out of your immediate grasp. No-one will put serious effort into achieving a goal that they believe is unrealistic. Remember that the belief that a goal is unrealistic may be counter productive.

Where Goal Setting Can Go Wrong. Goal setting can go wrong for a number of reasons: Goals can be set unrealistically high. Goals can be set too low. Goals can be so vague that they are useless. Too many goals may be set and then worked towards at the same time.

Achieving Goals and Feedback. When you have achieved a goal, take the time to enjoy it and what achieving it has meant. Take the opportunity to reward yourself appropriately if you have been working towards it for a long time.

Feedback: Failure. Where you have failed to reach a goal, ensure that you learn the lessons of the failure. These may be: That you didn't try hard enough That your technique was faulty and needs to be adjusted That the goal you set was unrealistic

Feedback: Failure Cont. Use this information to adjust the goal. Feeding back turns everything into a positive learning experience. Even failing to achieve a goal can be a step forward towards better technique. Remember that the fact of trying something, even if it does not work, often opens doors that would otherwise have remained closed.

Feedback: Success. Where you have achieved a goal always try and feedback into your next goals: If the goal was easily achieved, make your next goals harder If the goal took too long to achieve, make the next goals a little easier If you learned something that would lead you to change goals still outstanding, do so If while achieving the goal you noticed some turbulence in your recovery, take appropriate action to fix this.

Feedback: Success Cont. Goals change as you mature and travel along Freedoms Road. Adjust them regularly to reflect this growth. If goals do not hold any attraction any longer, have a break and try other things. To reach your target should bring you real pleasure, satisfaction and achievement.

Summary of Goal Setting. Goal setting is an important method of: –Deciding how committed you are to the sport of speaking. –Deciding what is important for you to achieve. –Motivating yourself to achieve. –Building your self- confidence. You can set goals effectively by: –Phrasing them positively –Defining them precisely –Prioritising multiple goals –Writing them down –Keeping them manageable: Not too hard, but not too easy.

The SMARTER Principle. You may now be thinking, Whinks, Ive reached information overload! Set your goals based on the S.M.A.R.T.E.R principle. Goals should be: Specific Measurable Affirmative Realistic Time based Evaluated Recorded

Group Work. Divide yourselves into groups of 5 or 6. Discuss what motivates you in your recovery. Set yourselves a goal to work towards during the contacts tomorrow as a group. If you take a new student out tomorrow, what goal will you set them? Report back as a group, or appoint 1 or more spokespeople.