Monday, November 25, 2013

How To Speak Publically

By Zoe Smith


How are you when speaking in front of an audience? Are you comfortable and articulate-or do you find yourself stumbling all over yourself when you open your mouth in front of people? I have many friends who have had almost crippling public speaking anxiety. The good news is it can be overcome. Yes, you do not have to spend sleepless nights anymore worrying about each time you need to face people. Here are great public speaking tips you can use to help you in the future.

1. Most probably, you would have been given sufficient time to prepare for the speech or talk assigned to you. Collect whatever you can about the topic and study as much as you can. You don't have to include every little detail into your talk, but aim to be more knowledgeable about it than the people you will be speaking to. Moreover, when you are confident with your expertise, you will be significantly less anxious about the meeting.

When you are confident in what you know, you will be a lot less anxious. Keep in mind that being prepared is only one part of it. Even if you have all these great info in front of you, don't read it word for word. Speak from your heart. This is what will attract people to listen to what you are saying and make you an effective public speaker.

2. If you are giving a power point presentation, do not give a boring bullet point presentation. Make it interesting. Incorporate compelling visuals, images, videos or sound bites. You will lose people's attention fast if you use slides and just read the bullet points. A short and concise presentation with suitable illustrations is the best.

3. For some of us, it doesn't matter how prepared we are and how great our presentation is, public speaking anxiety will still find its way to the pit of our stomach. The peak of this anxiety is a minute before the speech so take deep breaths and relaxation exercises before this happens. Rehearse the speech in your mind and visualize your audience positively responding to your speech.

4. It's always good to find at least one friendly face in the audience. If you don't have anybody with you-then look for someone who seems genuinely interested in what you are saying and direct your talk to him or her when the rest of the crowd is less than engaged. Even if one person was helped by what you have said, it has all been worth it.

5. If you want to make your speech a success, engage your audience. Involve them in stories or in whatever you are talking about. Ask questions and think about it as if you were simply conversing with a group of friends. When you encourage the audience to actively participate in the discussion, they will be more interested and remember your speech more positively.

Every single person has something that somebody else needs to hear-don't let a few shaking knees and sweaty palms get in the way of this wonderful opportunity to help somebody's life be better. Employ these super useful public speaking tips and be the person we all know you can be today.




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