Many people either hate or love to speak in public. If it’s not something you enjoy, it can be something that you tolerate. Here are some ideas to help you begin to feel more comfortable.
Being prepared – understanding your topic is key. Even if your speech is memorized, knowing key facts and elements will help tremendously. You can include theme if you think your audience is receptive. Have a question session at the end of your speech.
After you know your speech inside and out, practice it! Practice as often as you need to in order to perfect the speech. Pay attention to your speed and to how you breathe as well. Be sure to allow time in your speaking for pauses or interruptions, which you hope to be audience applause. Use the equipment you are going to use for the speech to practice if you can.
Make sure you have a good understanding about your topic when you’re preparing your speech. Do a broad type of research that allows you to see the topic from all sides. Then, narrow in on individual points, and back them up with carefully crafted remarks. Doing so will help you when it comes time to answer questions.
Take a look at the environment you are about to speak in. Test the acoustics and the mic to see how much you have to project. Implement equipment if need be. If there are visual aids, learn to use them. Figure out how much eye contact should be made.
If you know you forgot a sentence when speaking, just keep going. Stopping during the speech to return to the point may cause you to go off the rails. If you just keep going, your audience will never know you made a mistake.
Use deep breathing techniques to assuage your anxiety with regard to public speaking. Breathing deliberately and deeply, followed by a complete exhale, can work to bring nervousness down. Use a count of four to breathe through the nose, and then a five count to breathe through the mouth. You’ll feel yourself relaxing after you do this five or six times.
Don’t drink alcohol before a speech. Though it may work to loosen you up, that might just be a bad idea. Nothing is worse than getting up on the platform and forgetting what you are going to say because you have imbibed in alcoholic beverages before your speech.
You should know your speech to become comfortable with it. Make sure that your topic is as exciting as possible, and also something that you are deeply interested in. Keep your tone conversational and you’ll impress your audience with your knowledge instead of confusing them with complicated jargon.
Bring the audience to your side before you begin your speech. Smile towards them when you enter. Shake a few hands if you can. You will be more effective if you have already made a positive impact on them.
Rehearse your speech on a daily basis. That way, you will gain greater confidence from your familiarity with your content. You should have notes with you, even if you have it memorized. If you forget something, you can quickly get the information from your notes.
Visual Aids
Do not make your visual aids too gaudy. You need them to underscore your main points. But, they should not be too distracting where they take away from your message. Visual aids that are made well and emphasizes key points are ideal. Make them colorful and neat but not distracting.
Don’t make people wait to ask questions. They might lose track of what they planned to ask. The audience likes to interact, so give them the attention they need.
Winging it should not even cross your mind when it comes to public speaking. Even if you’re well-versed on the subject, this isn’t a good idea. You might give an okay speech. However, when it’s all said and done and you realize all the important information you omitted, you will most likely be sorry.
Many people cringe when they think of speaking in public. However, this in unnecessary, provided some useful tips are heeded. Use these ideas to help you become a more confident speaker.