Public speaking seems to be one of those things that you either love or hate. For those who truly hate it, there’s still a chance to turn things around. The following advice will help you improve on your speaking skills.
Always make sure to look at your audience. Don’t let yourself become distracted by other activity in the room. Remember that you need to get your point across, and you won’t do this unless you let your audience know your attention is on them.
Once you have initially memorized your speech, practice it repeatedly. Tweak it as necessary. Try to maintain calm breathing during the speech. Make sure that your speech time allows some open space for interruptions, which are hopefully rounds of applause. Try to practice using the equipment at the location where you will be delivering your speech.
Time your speech before you give it. This ensures your speech fills the time you have. If your speech isn’t long enough, you’ll have time to do some more research to lengthen it. Don’t rush when you make your speech.
Know your topic. Research broadly to get a full understanding of the topic at hand. Hone in your points carefully and get your remarks ready in notes that are clear and easy to follow. You will sound more professional if you know how to answer their questions.
Make sure you are acquainted with your audience. If you can, learn more about audience members. If possible, greet them when they arrive. You will feel more comfortable, and so will your audience if you are engaging them on a personal level.
Become familiar with the hall or room where you will be giving your public speech. Test your voice in it to see how far it projects if you aren’t using a microphone. Get a good feel for the room’s acoustics however you can. Make use of visual aids. Get a good handle on the eye-contact range you will need to make.
Always face your audience during your speech. Don’t allow anything to distract you, no matter what may be going on around the room or auditorium. Your goal is to make believers out of your audience, and to do this, you must give them your full attention.
Practice really does make perfect. Try practicing before a mirror or recording your speech to revise and spot areas in need of improvement. See if you can get someone to listen to it so that they can advise you of points that could use improving.
Never take a drink of alcohol prior to making a public speech. You might think it will make you bolder, but it is a terrible idea. Nothing will ruin a speech faster than forgetting your lines, and that’s exactly what will occur if you imbibe in a few drinks.
A great way to close your speech and have people remember it, is to have a good ending. Your conclusion should not fall short of keeping their attention. If you end in a boring manner, people will not remember your speech for very long.
After you have committed the speech to memory, make sure you keep practicing. This is the time where you can perfect the speech with effective changes. Also refine your pace. Leave time for any interruptions, such as applause or laughter. When you can, rehearse in the actual space where you will speak.
Key Points
Write down key points and ideas on note cards. Though you ought to memorize your speech, it’s wise to have a copy of it as well. You don’t have to have the speech in its entirety before you as you stand at the podium, but your key points should at least be jotted down.
Don’t apologize for being nervous or making mistakes. You might think you’re making a giant idiot of yourself, but your audience may hold a different view. Correct mistakes you make and move on.
Know what you are talking about, inside and out. Do research that comes at your main topic from many different points of view. Develop your points carefully and prepare yourself with notes you can follow. When questioned about your topic, you will find your good preparation invaluable.
If you’ve got a speech coming up, picture it in your mind. Visualize what you will say and the reaction of the audience. By visualizing a successful delivery, you will significantly boost your confidence.
Concentrate on getting focused. It is generally normal to feel anxious. Most people are nervous prior giving a speech. Thinking negatively is not okay. If you think you’ll fail, you’ll most likely fail. Think that you’ll succeed, and you will.
If you want to connect immediately with your audience, start you speech off with an interesting story. Use something that the audience can relate to. A story should immediately draw in the audience, playing on their empathy. When making your story, avoid anecdotes that some might find offensive.
Familiarize yourself with the room you will be speaking in. If the room doesn’t have a microphone, figure out how far you can expect your voice to carry. Use the equipment on hand, if necessary. Take advantage of the visual aids that are there, if any. Also, figure out how much eye contact you should make.
Understand the audience you are speaking to. Every audience has different expectations. Co-workers, for instance, are looking to learn things from the speech. Friends may simply want to have fun. Regardless of who you are talking to, try to address their needs.
Put yourself in the shoes of your audience. Do you think you’d make a big deal if your speaker made errors? Would this make you think less of the person? If you are the one to make a mistake, you need to know it really isn’t a big deal, and you are probably your biggest critic.
Try not to announce to the audience that you are really nervous about giving your speech. Your speech will be more credible if you come across as confident and not nervous. Although you may think your nerves are obvious to everyone, they probably are not. Give off the impression that you’re confident, and you will slowly start to feel that way.
Keep going if you accidentally omit a certain sentence from your speech. You may lose your audience for good if you break your pace. If you just keep going, your audience will never know you made a mistake.
Speed is an important factor of your speech. This will help to keep your audience comfortable. Slow your speech down too much and you audience is sure to be too bored to listen. Practice your speech over and over to perfect the speed.
Many people are terrified by the thought of giving a speech. With the right advice, you shouldn’t dread it. Hopefully, the above article has offered suggestions that will demystify this whole process.
from Personal Coaching Center http://ift.tt/1WTJ7mO
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