Tag: public speaking confidence

Effective speech 101

The first step is to overcome the fear of public speaking. Effective speaking is not an inbuilt talent. You can develop it through correct practices just as we learn other things in life.

You can do this through:

  1. Deep breathing: Before and after your speech
  2. Shifting your focus from how you look and feel to the message you want to share with your audience. Do not imitate others, just be yourself.
  3. Visualizing: Take 10-15 minutes a day to relax, close your eyes and visualize the room you are speaking in, the audience and yourself confidently delivering your speech, smiling and moving across the stage.
  4. Focus on facts, not fears: Instead of focusing on your irrational fears- mind going blank or audience getting bored- focus on the thoughts like ‘I have the sketch, I know the bullet points or I am knowledgeable on this topic.’ Rehearse it with your friends or family.
  5. Focus on speech clarity: Organize the speech around two or more important points rather than including all the information from everywhere.
  6. Never memorize it word to word. Just remember the facts and major points and you will come around. Make brief notes of interesting things or which you don’t want to miss.
  7. Be excited about your subject, include experiences and provide examples. They do wonders!

After overcoming the fear of speaking, begin with all the important points for effective speaking.

  1. Story telling

Audience can forget data and statistics, but they will never forget a delightful story. Use stories from real-life events, something funny to share from your past incidences or challenges, struggle and success stories, etc.

Your stories should be:

  • Relevant to the subject
  • Short and simple
  • At proper intervals
  • Relatable

        You should:

  • Express emotions through body language.
  • Use adjectives and verbs to make the stories more interesting.

You should not:

  • Use more than two stories on the same topic.
  • Fill it with too many minute details or characters which distract the audience from the primary concern.
  • Not use uncommon jargons.

2. Body language: It is our way of communicating through our body movements and gestures to express our emotions, expressions, and actions. We should also read the body language of our audience.

For a positive body language:

  • Posture: Feel comfortable and stay upright. No slouching shoulders or bent posture. Do not lean or grip the lectern. If you are sitting, do not lean, bent or move your legs very much.
  • Body placement: Move as you speak. Use the space, be with the audience and not behind the lectern or just positioned in one place. This cannot apply if you are sitting in a studio where you need to be seated.
  • Arms: Do not use hand gestures which reveal anxiety. Example: Clutching your hands, fiddling with your clothing, cracking fingers, etc.
  • Facial expressions: Smile at your listeners as you talk. It is very effective when you gain their admiration.

3. Tone of voice: The study related to the vocal part of the non- verbal communication is called paralinguistic. And paralanguage refers to the non- verbal elements of communication. These are:

Speech Pace: It is the speed at which we speak. Practice for 150 words per minute. It is the ideal limit. Steady your breathing, focus on enunciation, reflect about punctuation in your speech.

Speech Pitch: It is the placement of your voice on a musical scale from high to low. Usually men have lower pitch than woman. Varying your voice pitch differentiates different emotions and points. It is the easiest way to avoid monotony, add excitement, make certain words and ideas stand out, appear relaxed and confident to the listeners. Identify the exact words and phrases that you want to emphasize. Example: Use higher pitch for excitement and lower pitch for seriousness or to add weight to the message.

Speech Volume: It is the loudness of your voice. It depends on the space of speaking and the size of the audience. It should not look as if you are shouting when you are not. There should not be a difficulty in listening to you. Reach everyone in the distance too. You can change your loudness for creating dramatic effects or expressing powerful emotions.

4. Pauses: Pauses are much needed. There is no need to fill silence with umm, ahm, like, you know or and. There are 3 types of to use in different ways:

  • Brief pause: Last for half a second to 2 seconds. Use it for separating a thought, emphasizing last words, or building anticipation for what is coming.
  • Long pause: Can last anywhere from 3 seconds to a couple of minutes. Used for creating tension.
  • Spontaneity pause: Speakers are to use it when they are searching for the right word or pretending to reflect on something.You can also plan and plot these pauses. They ultimately make your the speech look more real, polished and less rehearsed.

5. Visual aids: These include flip charts, projectors, slide shows, handouts, and certain props.

  • Adding a visual dimension can make a speech look more vivid, graphic, and professional looking.
  • Multiplies understanding
  • Helps to maintain attention
  • Adds humour or creates excitement
  • Organizes complex information

Encourages gesture and movement to connect more with your audience. With good practice and knowledge of your subject, you can easily become an effective speaker.

20 Tips for Mastering the Art of Public Speaking

When my class was asked to describe our greatest fear- some said spiders while some said ghosts. But when the fingers were pointed at me and the entire class was staring at me for an answer, I froze. That is exactly when I knew my greatest fear was public speaking. The best way one can get over their fear is by practising it hence I made it my goal to be an ace at it. Today I’m a teacher and I speak in front of my students with ease and charisma.

The Wolf of Wall Street': A howling disappointment

Here are some of the tips that helped me through my process of practising public speaking:

1. Know your audience.

If you are speaking in front of an audience, there is usually a reason. Know who you are speaking to and what they want or need to take away. If it’s friends and family, entertain them. If it’s a corporate event, teach and inspire them. Knowing the demographic of the audience is imperative.

2. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse.

Nothing becomes muscle memory unless you practice relentlessly. If you have a big speech coming up, make time every day to practice. Prepare your goals and the content well ahead of time. This can be done while driving, exercising, in the car, on a plane…anywhere.

3. Practice with your friends and family.

Once I know the content, I like to add a little bit of distraction to test how well prepared I really am. Turn on the TV or rehearse while pushing your child in the swing. Anything that adds a little more challenge. While taking a shower or even while dinner with your parents.

4. Maintain your own style.

Different events will often require a different approach or style. Sometimes reading a prepared speech is fine. But know it backward are forward so you’re not staring down at the pages the whole time. Some use notes. Others prefer to be 100 percent scripted and memorized. If that’s your style, memorize the content so well that you can go off script if needed — and so you don’t sound like you’re reciting a poem. Use the proper approach for the appropriate event.

5. Know the environment.

Know the venue where you will be speaking. Get there well ahead of time. Walk the room. Walk the stage. Get a feel for the vibe of the environment so you are more comfortable when its “go time.”

6. Test all equipment.

Nothing sucks more that last-minute technical difficulties. Avoid adding even more stress by testing any and all equipment and audio visual functions ahead of time. And have backups.

7. Practice in front of a mirror.

Practicing in front of a mirror is a good way to learn the proper amount of body motion, hand usage and facial expressions.

8. Take every opportunity to speak.

The only way to get better at anything is to do it all the time. Rehearsing is good, but nothing compares to actually getting up in front of an audience and doing it for real.

9. Practice body language and movement.

Remember, communication is much more about tone and body language than the words we say. The words of course matter, but emphasis comes with movement and body language.

10. Slow down.

We have some great sayings in the SEAL teams: “slow is smooth, and smooth is fast, ” and “don’t run to your death.” Nothing shows nerves more than racing through your presentation. If you want to impact the audience in a meaningful way, make sure they actually hear what you are saying. Slow it down.

11. Make eye contact, but avoid heavy body movements.

This one is very important, and it doesn’t matter how big the audience is. Make eye contact with as many people as possible. It makes the audience members feel like you are speaking directly to them. And don’t just stick to people in the first couple rows. Look at the people in the back too.

12. Know your material.

If your goal is to become a thought leader or actually teach the audience something, only a truly authentic understanding of the material will get you there.

13. Take long pauses.

Similar to slowing things down, make a point to take long pauses. And make them longer than you even think is appropriate. It can have a great impact on emphasizing key points and emotionally connecting to the audience.

14. Practice tone and voice modulation.

Don’t just eek your way through a speech using the same tone and volume. Tone and projection add a layer of entertainment and help keep the audience fully engaged from start to finish. These too must be practiced religiously.

15. Use humor and emotion.

It doesn’t matter what you are talking about. There is always a place for emotion or humor, or both. I find self-deprecating humor to work the best. And if you are starting to get emotional, so what? Use it. The audience may not remember everything you said, but they will remember how you made them feel. 

16. Mentally prepare.

Find time during the hour before your speech for some solitude. Get your mind right. Clear your head. If it’s five minutes before, just relax. The time for making sure you know the material perfectly has passed.

17. Exercise before you go on.

It’s almost impossible to feel stress and anxiety after a good workout. If you have the time, exercise. The closer to your speech, the better. It’s also a good time to practice. I like to rehearse while running or swimming.

18. Project confidence.

The more you project confidence, the more confident you are likely to feel. Get out there and own the room. Even if you are terrified. Fake it. Look people in the eye and command their attention.

19. Don’t go over the allotted time.

When in doubt, go under the allotted time. Less is sometimes more. But never, ever, go over. It’s poor speaking etiquette and shows you are not prepared. It’s also disrespectful of the agenda for the event. Again, just practice.

20. Ask for feedback.

Most of us don’t like to ask for feedback, especially when we know the response may include some constructive criticism.

However feedbacks if taken positively can do wonders for your speech improvisation especially from a third-party point of view.

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Speaking is a great way to connect with people and a skill we all should master.

It’s a must for leaders and managers. It’s a must for sales. It’s basically a requirement for all entrepreneurs and business leaders.

So go on and practice this skill which will be your life saver!

How can you improve your public speaking skills?

Many of us have this tendency to back off, when we are asked to speak in front of a crowd. We might be very confident with our topic and context, but something drags us back from going and delivering it. We think we are not capable of doing a public speech, but it’s the fear in us that puts us down. Can we overcome this fear? Are we really capable of doing a speech in front of a large audience? In fact, yes!

The main obstacle that comes in your way is none other than your fear. Now being scared is quite normal and fine as it can help you to prepare well in front of others. Being scared means, you have taken the speech as an important task and you don’t want to end it bad. That’s really a good sign. The problem appears when you start getting scared more than usual. This can adversely affect the way you speak and obviously it can lead your speech awful. So, lets overcome this fear with some of the tips which are mentioned below.

  1. Try speaking in front of your family/friends or even in front of a mirror. The main cause of the fear is that, you being aware that your performance is being watched by others. You have to make this fear as your confidence. The one way of doing it is, try to get used of having attention. Try speaking in front of people who you are really comfortable with. This can enhance your confidence and make you feel that you can do it. If you don’t feel comfortable in speaking in front of your beloved ones, use yourself as an audience in front of a mirror. This will help you get over the fear in you.
  2. Use eye contact. This is something all of us ignore if we are scared. We often look at walls or something else while we speak. But eye contact is very important in public speaking. It shows you are confident and genuine in your topic and yourself. Try looking all of the people as possible as you can, since it can create a feeling to the audience to really engage in your speech and remain attentive.
  3. Your physical appearance. When I say physical appearance I don’t mean you have to choose an expensive outfit and make up. But make sure you are dressed up in a neat and tidy way. Now this boosts your confidence in yourself. If people are not comfortable in the way they look, that never want other people to see them and this can prevent them from delivering an excellent speech. Because all they think and consider, will be their appearance.
  4. Stay positive. It is very important to remain positive and ignore the negative thoughts that pop up in your mind. People often overthink about the way they speak, the constant worry is that “what if i say something stupid?” or “what if I didn’t get the right word?” Never overthink like this. Make sure you know the topic well and present in the way as best as you can. Even if you make a mistake in the middle, don’t panic as it is completely okay to have mistakes because you are not a robot but a human. Kindly apologize your mistakes and go on with your speech.