The Art of Public Speaking

Posts Tagged ‘Confident Public Speaking’

Public speaking skills come natural to some people whilst others seem to have to work their entire life to gain the confidence to speak in front of a group of people. Whether it be a work meeting or wedding speech, there is no doubt that having good public speaking skills allows others to respect you and often think of you as a highly confident, successful person.

There are several ways to improve your public speaking skills. By utilizing a variety of methods and techniques your confidence will greatly improve.

The first is of course to be prepared for your speech! There is nothing worse than being lost for words so make sure you jot down your main points of conversation and of course revise them many times. You don’t want to be constantly reading from your cards or paper so you’ll need to have a good idea of what you are going to talk about and in what order.

The second way to minimize nervousness is to make eye contact with the audience whilst you are speaking. You may think that this will make you nervous however it’s the best way to gauge your audience. You will often find yourself becoming more relaxed as you see people in the crowd smiling and nodding. This gives you the momentum you need to kick on confidently with your speech.

Use visual aids such as PowerPoint presentations, slides and projectors to divert attention to what you are saying rather than to you yourself. Depending on the nature of your speech (obviously this won’t apply say in a wedding situation), you can often demonstrate your words more clearly with images or diagrams. People will also enjoy this interaction.

Practice your speech in front of various people before the big day. Family and friends will give honest opinions on your format, presentation and the speech itself. Once you iron out the bad points, you’ll only have good points left and this will leave you feeling confident.

It is very common for people to talk rapidly during their speech when nervous. The audience can pick up on this, so you will want to be conscious of your speed. Make use of pauses throughout the speech so you don’t become out of breath and race through the presentation.

Public speaking skills are far from impossible to master. Practice and confidence is all you need to conquer your fear of public speaking.

Fear of public speaking (official called glossophobia) is a highly common occurrence.

It is actually believed that glossophobia is the most common phobia in the world! Many people are actually more scared of public speaking than they are of dying. If only they knew that conquering this fear is not as hard or frightening as one might think.

Even some famous people have admitted to suffering from social phobia or fear of performance. They include Barbara Streisand, Dusty Springfield and Peter Gabriel. These people still put on performances despite their fear, so how do they do it?

Without a doubt they have gone through some sort of public speaking training. This is mandatory if you know you have to speak publicly on a regular basis but are afraid to do so.

Some symptoms of public speaking fear include sweating, shaking and rapid heart beat in the moments, hours or even days leading up to the speech or event. Difficulty in sleeping and loss of appetite are extreme symptoms of glossophobia. Often all thoughts are focused on the speech and this makes a person even more nervous as they are constantly thinking about failure rather than thinking positively about it.

Fear of public speaking can be brought upon by past events in which a traumatic incident occurred, such as someone laughing at a person as they gave a speech or perhaps a speech not going quiet as planned. This sort of event can result in years of self doubt when it comes to giving more speeches.

To conquer your fear of public speaking you must be prepared to tackle it head on. You need to continue speaking publicly as this will give you practice. If you shy away then your confidence will only wane. Practice speaking in front of groups of friends and family. Often this can actually be harder than speaking in front of strangers so if you feel confident here then you are well on your way to beating the fear of public speaking.

There are also special support groups set up for people who want to improve their speaking skills. You can take classes at night or on weekends. You should be confident in knowing that you will have support from your classmates and that you wont be judged.

Being afraid of performing or speaking is not something to be ashamed about. As long as you have realized your fear and begin taking steps to conquer it then you will without a doubt become a much more competent and confident person.

Public speaking is an acquired taste for most people. That is, the first taste of it is usually disagreeable to the untrained person. Over time, if emboldened by a few tasty morsels, they can develop a taste for it and eventually they will discover how to ensure that whilst they still have butterflies they will all be flying in formation.

To be exceptional at public speaking requires that one loves the activity for its own sake. In public speaking, to love it means to share with others things you consider of relative value and importance.

Though all people approach public speaking with different goals in mind, a few pointers, if you will on how one can eventually find it an indispensable tool in life.

1. Let go of yourself. When you speak publicly, the only thing on your mind is the speech. It’s really not the time for thoughts of your bills, arguments with the boss, and needing to have the car washed. All these other thoughts get in the way of you being natural on stage.

2. Be uniquely you. This may sound like a contradiction of the first pointer, but nothing is more true. If you let go of your ego and just let your true personality shine though, the audience will be awed by this. This is partly the reason why most people flock to movies and theaters, as a means to express their own feelings albeit vicariously. Words depend on the manner in which they are spoken and less by the matter these words are a part of.

3. Have a chat with your audience. Create a sense of give-and-take communication with the audience. Never let the audience feel you never wanted to be there with them in the first place. You will want your hearers to know that you are speaking with experience from the heart.

4. Wear your heart on your sleeve. Being passionate isn’t right for some occasions, but being passionate in public speaking is just what the doctor ordered. Speak with emotion, confidence and conviction. There is no audience that would rather see the speaker.

5. Practice makes perfect. Practice with your speech and its delivery. Never neglect to exercise the mental and physical traits necessary to create a direct impact on the audience. Measure your performance by capturing your speech on video, or ask for advice from an expert. Find ways to improve your technique.

If you follow these suggestions, you will start to develop a love of the art of public speaking, your butterflies will be flying in formation and you will conquer your fear, worry and anxiety about public speaking