Most people in the world are horrified of the thought of being a public speaker. Who wouldn’t be? Standing in front of a big crowd and speaking in order to influence the audience’s lives is a difficult thing to do especially for those who find it hard to express themselves. Studies show that people are more afraid of public speaking than death. But for some, especially those who want to enter politics, business, or sales, public speaking is one thing you have to conquer for you to be successful. But don’t worry, we have come up with tips that you can use so public speaking for you won’t be that hard. Read on.
- Visualize your goal and how you will achieve it. What do you want to achieve in the end? Is it reaching a massive audience? Do you want your speech to have great impact? Do you want to persuade the people into buying your product or hiring your services? Whatever your goal is, you have to have a game plan. Knowing your ultimate purpose or objective and your desired outcome will guide you to stay focused not only during the preparation but also during the presentation. With your game plan at hand, prepare to execute it. Slay it.
2. Prepare. Prepare your speech, but simplify it. Use simple and easy-to-understand words. Yes, you want to convince or leave animpact, but you can do it without using so many highfalutin or flowery words. Remember that you are where you are because of your expertise. People chose you to speak because whatever you say will be valuable to them. So resist using these words and focus on communicating powerful ideas that will stick to the audience’s minds and hearts.
3. Practice. Cliché, but practice makes perfect, even though no one is perfect. But practicing the delivery of your presentation or speech is one of the crucial factors that determines the success of your presentation.
4. Connect with your audience. Speakers always try to look brainy, all knowing or experts when they talk.
Stop doing this. You are speaking in front of the crowd for a purpose, and that’s not to prove them that you’re smart. Being invited to speak already proves that your worth the time of these audiences. So remember, when you’re at the stage, there’s already a space between you and the audience, and that’s what you have to break, not to make. By being funny yet informative, being witty but real, you lessen the gap between you and them, making them want to hear more of your stories and inspirational words. The more connection there is between you and the audience, the more they will pay attention and understand what you are saying.
5. Sound confident.
A study published by the University of Wolverhampton says that “A highly confident speaker is viewed as being more accurate, competent, credible, intelligent, knowledgeable, likable, and believable than the less confident uncertain speaker.” Yes, trying to be confident isn’t easy, especially if little preparation or no practice was made. But you have to remember that confidence is what bring you away from your comfort zone. Being confident in what you have to say means you can hurdle any question or conquer your fear of being doubted. You know your topic, you know what to say and what to do, so be confident about it. Stop entertaining negative thoughts because it stops you from being the good speaker that everyone sees in you.
6. Be passionate. Be yourself. Do it with passion or not at all. Remember when you were a kid and your mom insisted on you enrolling in the violin class but you didn’t want it but enrolled because you can’t do anything about it? And in the end you quit because your heart was into sports. That’s your passion that told you to stop and quit. Passion gives you the drive to do something. So if your heart is not in it, tell the people that you can’t do it, rather than delivering a messed-up speech, or worst a nothing at all. Improve your speaking skills for topics that fire your burning passion. Be yourself.
There you have it. So good luck on your next speaking engagement. We know that you’ll do great!
Photo Credits:
https://virtualspeech.com https://speakupforsuccess.com
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https://cleanlearning.co.uk https://www.huffpost.com