If you have long dreaded public speaking, join the club. Countless people will state they fear it as well. You can control the situation and excel at public speaking, however.
You can’t speak before an audience and think that others will automatically know what you’re saying. You need to make an effort to get and keep their attention. You really are performing, so you need to put lots of effort into it.
After writing a speech, time yourself. This will help you edit the speech to stay within the allotted time. If the speech is not long enough, add more time by finding more information. Never rush when delivering a speech.
When you practice your speech, be sure to time it. This will allow you to edit your speech to keep it within the necessary time constraints. If it is not long enough, add a bit of meat to it. Also, don’t rush through your speech when it comes time to give it.
It’s vital to know about everything that you will be talking about during a speech. 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. You can work these things into your speech to add time, engage the audience, and make yourself sound like a real professional. Draw on your general knowledge in the Q&A session following your presentation.
After you have committed the speech to memory, make sure you keep practicing. Practice often to tweak your speech as needed. Make sure you master proper pace and breathing. Leave a little bit of open space in case you’re interrupted, hopefully by a round of applause. If at all possible, practice delivering your speech utilizing the actual equipment that will be available at the time you make the actual speech.
You may want to consider using a story to engage your audience. Before speaking to the audience it is important that your speech is outlined. There should be a beginning, middle and an end to communicate your ideas. If your speech is based on your real-life events, then you will seem more authentic and natural.
When you speak in public, preparation is critical. Identify what points you wish to make. Do your homework to back up your statements, if you must. Jot down the things you wish to convey. Repeat your words so that you know what you need to say. The more time you take to be prepared, the more confident you will be while speaking.
If you are anxious about public speaking, practice deep breathing techniques. Take several breaths and exhale before you start to calm your nerves. Breathe in for four seconds and then breathe out. Repeat this until you feel your breathing and heart rate calm down.
No matter the venue, always look your best. If you feel and look sharply dressed, it will reflect in your speaking. You don’t have to wear a suit, but wear something nice that will impress the audience.
Rehearse your presentation daily. This will help you increase your confidence. Even if you already have the speech committed to memory, it is important that any notes you have are brought to the podium. Your note cards may come in handy, should you lose your place during your speech.
Always make sure to look at your audience. Do not permit other things that may be occurring in the room to distract you. You are attempting to convince the audience of something, so they need your full attention.
If you want people to remember your speech, try to make the ending as memorable as possible. The end of the speech will set the tone for the entire speech. You don’t want to end on a dull note.
Never apologize, even if you feel you’re failing. Even if you are nervous, display confidence and your audience will feel confident in you. If you made an error, quickly fix it and keep going forward without apologizing.
If your audience will be a large one, make sure your voice is clear and strong. Drink water to clear the passages before a speech, and keep it handy while you are speaking. On speech day, don’t drink any dairy or soda. Such drinks thicken the saliva and can cause excessive mucous. Drink a little tea to help relax those vocal cords.
Know the audience. Ask about the people that are going to be the audience. If possible, greet them as they enter and ask their name. Practice their names in your mind. Your speech will be much more relaxed if you feel friendly with the audience.
Visual Aids
Don’t let your visual aids be so eye-catching that they distract from you. They should help enhance your speech. You do not want them to overwhelm your message. Utilize visual aids of high quality to drive home important points. This will help to keep your speech fun and enticing.
Before you give presentations, you should warm up the audience. You don’t need to open up with a joke. Talk about a story that just happened or begin with a joke. This helps you initially connect with the audience.
Tell a true story to practice speaking publicly. Before speaking to the audience it is important that your speech is outlined. Make sure that your story has discernible chapters, like beginning, a middle and an end. Your story will seem natural if it’s a real one.
Don’t go into a speech thinking you are just going to wing it. This is a bad idea regardless of the depth of your knowledge or passion with regards to the subject. The speech may end up being okay. But at its completion, you are likely to wish you had remembered to mention a few points.
Prior to delivering a speech, know your audience. Different audiences will expect different speeches. For instance, your colleagues will expect to learn something. Family and friends will probably want to be entertained. By knowing your audience, you can deliver a speech with the information they want to hear.
To help still your nerves, imagine you are an audience member. How would you handle the situation when a speaker loses track of their speech? Would it make you think less of the person? If an error happens, do not worry.
Familiarize yourself with the room you will be speaking in. How far will your voice carry or is there a microphone? Get a better feel by using equipment. If there are visual aids, learn to use them. Also, figure out how much eye contact you should make.
Have you been in a class and dread the public speaking part? Do you rarely contribute because speaking up makes you nervous? That should no longer be the case, because you now know how to change the situation.