Do you hate public speaking? You are in good company. Countless people will state they fear it as well. Fortunately, the advice and suggestions presented in the following piece can prove truly helpful to just about anyone.
Commit your speech to your memory as soon as you can. Once you are able to give your speech without looking at your notes, you can start to perfect your delivery. If you have the speech down pat, it gives you an opportunity to add lib as you go through it in front of a crowd.
Always face the audience consistently when speaking in public. Don’t get distracted by whatever else is happening. Your goal is to make believers out of your audience, and to do this, you must give them your full attention.
When speaking to a crowd of people, you will have to win them over and not just assume that they will buy what you’re saying. You need to work hard to attract their attention and harder to maintain it. You can almost liken a speech to giving a dramatic performance.
Learn your audience. If you know who is attending, it will help you to engage them better. Prior to the speech, even say hello to some of them at the door. Feeling comfortable and familiar with some individuals in the audience makes the process much friendlier.
Tell a true story to practice speaking publicly. Give a brief description of your story beforehand. Make sure you have an intro, body, and conclusion. Make sure your story is based on a real life event and your words will come off as authentic and natural.
Keep your speech moving right along even though you realize you skipped over a section. If you stop and backtrack and try to correct your error, you will end up with a big mess. Most likely people won’t even realize you made a mistake, so there is no reason to go back and correct it.
Use a timer to know how long your written speech is. You can then edit your speech so it does not extend past the time allowed. If the speech is not long enough, add more time by finding more information. Never rush when delivering a speech.
Practicing is the most important part of speech preparation. Tweak your speech by recording it and practicing in front of your mirror. Practicing before loved ones is an ideal method since they can offer the best criticism.
Don’t drink alcohol before giving your speech. You may think that it will help you loosen up and be more confident, but it can have quite the opposite effect you want. You do not want your speech to fall flat because you are too intoxicated to remember what you wanted to convey in your speech.
You should know your speech to become comfortable with it. Select a topic of real interest to you in which you have deep knowledge. Make sure that you have a carefree, conversational tone.
If you want others to get the most from your speech, make sure to prepare. Be aware of all you would like to say. If you’re unsure of a fact, do your research before adding it to your speech. Write down the information you plan to say. Practice your speech a number of times until you have it memorized. Good preparation permits you to enjoy a feeling of confidence when you deliver your speech.
End your speech with something memorable. While the other portions of your message are important, people are most likely to recall the ending. Having a good ending will keep your speech in their minds.
Strong, confident voices are key when it comes to addressing large groups. Make sure that you have a cup of water handy as you are speaking to the audience. Don’t drink any dairy drinks or soda when giving your speech. This can make your saliva thick and can also make you produce more mucous. Hot tea prior to your speech can help relax the vocal chords.
Visual Aids
Be as familiar as possible with your materials. Have a broad general knowledge of the topic including statistics, facts and anecdotes. Use them when needed to bolster your persuasiveness. This can also reinforce your speech when answering questions or providing follow up conversations.
Be certain you have visual aids that are not the main attraction. Visual aids should enhance the information you are giving. Visual aids should not overwhelm the message you are delivering. To make important points, make sure your visual aids are high quality. They need to be attractive and colorful without distracting from the rest of the speech.
If a speech is coming up on the horizon, use visualization techniques. Try to see yourself from the perspective of the audience. Also, your confidence will be boosted when you do this.
Ask Questions
Once you memorize your speech, then practice it over and over. Speaking it out loud often will allow you to make tweaks as you see the need. Make sure you master proper pace and breathing. You should pause every now and again to allow the audience to indicate their approval with applause. If you can, practice your speech with the exact equipment you will have available at the time of your speech.
Don’t make people wait to ask questions. People may likely forget the questions that they had. People will appreciate you much more as a speaker if you allow them to ask questions whenever they like, so give them exactly what they want.
Have you avoided class participation due to a fear of speaking in public? Have you kept your great ideas to yourself because you were too petrified to voice them? That should no longer be the case, because you now know how to change the situation.
from Personal Coaching Center http://ift.tt/1R2pKJs
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