Chances are that you’re not very fond of public speaking, and you are not the only one who feels that way. Many people are fearful of speaking in public. Luckily, the advice that follows can help you have more confidence if you find the need to speak in front of others.
Make sure to understand what you are saying. Have a broad general knowledge of the topic including statistics, facts and anecdotes. This will help you to engage the audience. It’s also good to use them to help reinforce your points in your speech by offering a question and answer session as a follow up.
During your preparation for the speech, it is vital that you have thorough knowledge about the subject you are speaking on. Do broad research and view the topic from different perspectives. Develop your points carefully and prepare yourself with notes you can follow. You’ll know your prep was worth it when your audience is engaged enough to participate eagerly in a Q&A session.
If you want to impress your audience when giving a speech, you must practice and prepare beforehand. What do you plan to say? If you’re unsure of a fact, do your research before adding it to your speech. Write down anything you need to include. Practice the remarks as many times as needed, until you can say them by heart. All of the preparation will come in handy, and you will be more confident when up on stage.
Know who your audience is. If you know who is attending, it will help you to engage them better. If you are able to. try greeting some of them and learning some names. Your speech will be much more relaxed if you feel friendly with the audience.
Familiarize yourself with the room you will be speaking in. How far will your voice carry or is there a microphone? Try out any equipment you will be using. Understand the best ways to use visual aids. Get a good handle on the eye-contact range you will need to make.
Practice makes perfect when it comes to public speaking. Try giving your speech while looking in a mirror, or record it and play it back to find out how to make it better. See if you can get someone to listen to it so that they can advise you of points that could use improving.
Make sure to understand what you are saying. If you have your speech committed to memory, it is still very important to understand the topic completely so you can tell stories or jokes related to it. It is possible to work them into your speech as you get a feel for your audience. They are also useful while answering questions from the audience on in follow up conversations.
No matter the venue, always look your best. If you feel that you look good, you’ll tend to talk better, as well. Men should consider wearing a necktie when possible, as it does direct audience eyes to the face and head so they focus on your speaking.
Stay away from alcoholic beverages before making your speech. You may think that it will help you loosen up and be more confident, but it can have quite the opposite effect you want. You’ll regret it when you’re standing there and forget your speech because your brain is too fuzzy.
Get on your feet and practice any speech on a daily basis. If you can give your speech “in your sleep,” you’ll feel much more confident when you get on stage. However, don’t become so overconfident that you go onstage without notes. If you forget something, you can quickly get the information from your notes.
Practice your speech repeatedly. Tweak it as necessary. Be sure to master your pace and breathing. Make sure there are pauses between key points so that people can react with applause. Use the equipment you are going to use for the speech to practice if you can.
Once your speech is prepared, practice it often to the point that you have it mostly memorized. Do this while looking in the mirror to see how you look. Practice in front of your family and ask for feedback. They can give you some pointers that you may not have noticed and help you improve.
If you want people to remember your speech, try to make the ending as memorable as possible. While some parts are important in a speech, the ending is usually what is most remembered. If you end in a boring manner, people will not remember your speech for very long.
Note Cards
You need to be very comfortable with the subject of your speech. Do research that comes at your main topic from many different points of view. Narrow down exactly what you are going to say, and what specific topics you want to address, making sure that notes are kept with all the key points. When questioned about your topic, you will find your good preparation invaluable.
Utilize note cards. Having a copy of your speech is a good idea, even when you have the speech memorized. Having the main points on note cards will help you get through the speech.
Speak with a clear, strong voice when speaking to a group. Take a bottle of water with you to the podium. Do not drink carbonated beverages or a lot of dairy products on the day you are to speak. These drinks could decrease your saliva production and may create more mucous. Try drinking hot tea before you speak to get your vocal cords to relax.
You don’t want the visual aids to be a distraction from your speech. They should only accentuate your words. You don’t want them to take over and cause others to stop listening to what you personally have to say so that your message is lost. To make important points, make sure your visual aids are high quality. This will help to keep your speech fun and enticing.
Know who you’re speaking to. If you can, learn who is going to be in attendance. If you are able to. try greeting some of them and learning some names. You will feel more comfortable, and so will your audience if you are engaging them on a personal level.
Don’t make people wait to ask questions. They may forget what it is that they want to ask. You will garner much more appreciation from your listeners if you permit interruptions, so let them fire away with questions.
Were you always afraid of raising your hand to speak when you were in school? Have you let ideas slip because you were nervous? With all the tips you’ve learned here, your voice no longer has to be silent.