Public speaking is a skill that can be daunting for many, but it doesn't have to be. With just a few basic tips and helpful advice, anyone can become a fluent and confident public speaker. Start by familiarizing yourself with the material you want to present, practice your delivery out loud in front of a mirror, and find a comfortable and confident place from which to speak. When it comes time to make your speech, remember to focus on connecting with your audience, and use your body language to communicate your message. With some practice and a positive attitude, public speaking can become easier and more enjoyable.
In this free seminar, we have leading experts on public speaking and presentation skills who are going to teach you the most effective ways you can learn to speak in public. Some of our speakers include:
One of the main things we will cover in this public speaking event is how to overcome your fears.
It might seem to you that fear is a wholly negative, even poisonous, reaction – something that does you no good. But of course in some circumstances fear is a necessary feeling. It can keep you alive, it can warn you of impending disasters. We feel fear for a reason. The problem comes when we feel that strong, overwhelming sensation over something which is not life-threatening, such as speaking in public. Then it becomes something that really is poisonous and that we need to control.
The first thing you must do when a public speaking engagement is approaching, looming ominously ahead of you, is to prepare for it. Do not do what we’ve all done in the past: hate to think of the speech or presentation, try to ignore it until the last possible moment because it makes you anxious and fearful. It’s natural to want to push those thoughts aside, but it’s only going to make your fear worse. It’s a truism that whenever you are faced with a fearful moment you should attack it rather than run away from it. It’s not an easy thing to do, but by managing it you will find a boost to your self-esteem, you will find that next time around the fear will not be quite as great, and, crucially, your speech/presentation will be better. By practicing it, by organizing it and organizing yourself, you will immediately start feeling better.
Remember when you were a kid and you hated going to the dentist? You’d think and think and think about how awful it was going to be, and then when it came time it really wasn’t as bad as your imagination had predicted. The same applies here. Fear is like a magnifying glass within your mind; it exaggerates all your weaknesses and turns everything into a ‘worst case scenario’. So stop thinking about how bad the public speaking engagement will be – and start working on making it a success. Replace the magnifying glass with reality – which is never anywhere near as bad.
The other element I want to consider today is your audience. For many of us it’s the people who are watching that provokes the fear. Imagining a room filled with strangers impassively looking only at us can instantly lead to a cold sweat. So, rather than letting that fearful image dominate, do some research. Find out exactly who is going to be in the audience. Their age, the demographic, cultural backgrounds. Then put yourself in their place. What would they like to hear? What content? What tone? If you can create a speech/presentation that the audience will like you will immediately lose most of the fear.
Now that doesn’t mean you should throw in a load of jokes. If you’re tense you won’t be funny, at least not intentionally. But it’s important to think about what it’ll be like for the audience, and what they expect from you.
By practicing the speech a number of times, your confidence level will rise. If you practice it in front of friends or family members and then get feedback from them you will have a valuable understanding into what the audience will be thinking and feeling. It might make you uncomfortable to be practicing a rough and not yet polished speech, but it will not only enable you to improve the speech (with the extra confidence that will supply you with) but it will start to get you feeling more familiar with the reality of public speaking. Of being the sole focus of the room’s attention. The more you do it the more easy it will become. And the more easy it becomes the more confident you will feel about it.
And ultimately it is that confidence which will defeat and overcome the fear of public speaking.
