Nine Tips For Public Speaking
Public speaking is something we will probably all have to do at some point. It can be at an academic level, during our studies, or in a professional situation.
These situations tend to provoke fear, sometimes so much as to take us completely off guard. What can we do then? There are a lot of tips you can follow to keep your feelings under control when speaking in front of a large audience… keep reading to discover them!
Public speaking requires preparation
If your fear is fueled when you have to speak in public, it becomes a force that works against you. But if you’re just a little apprehensive about the thought of public speaking, it can actually force you to prepare your speech better. The first tip to keep in mind is to prepare your presentation.
To do this, you need to establish the time you have to prepare and practice. You can divide your time and spend blocks of time preparing.
Our second piece of advice is that the speech should be clear and easy for the audience to follow. You need to be clear about the goal you want to achieve and who your audience will be. This way you can choose the right structure and resources to hold your presentation. The audience determines the starting point and the level you can reach.
Third, to be successful, you must be careful not to read your presentation word for word. How do you do this? By developing adequate support, such as a sketch or short notes. This could even be an audiovisual presentation accompanying your speech.
Practice, practice, practice
What you can do to improve your presentation doesn’t stop there. Once you have properly prepared your material, you should start practicing. This is the fourth step, rehearsing your presentation at home. Yes, out loud. That way you can hear what needs to be improved before you present it to your audience.
However, you should not only practice at home. A fifth tip is to go to the place where you are going to give the presentation and practice it there. This will help you manage your anxiety by familiarizing yourself with the place where the presentation will take place. In addition, you can check whether sufficient equipment is available and whether you know where to enter and exit the room.
After this, there’s only one thing you can do before giving your presentation: relax. Practicing some relaxation techniques such as breathing techniques will help ensure that nerves do not take over. Those nerves can make you forget your presentation. Relaxing will make sure you don’t forget the main points of your speech.
The moment has come – what do you do when you speak in public?
Once you’ve started your presentation, it’s important to set even more strategies in motion. The seventh tip we have to offer is that you should pay attention to visual contact. It is extremely important to look at those present without locking your gaze to a single person or point in the room, at least during pauses. Also, don’t jump to conclusions about how the audience judges you by their faces, because that will make you more nervous.
It is helpful to focus on what we are saying. How? The eighth tip that will make your presentation successful is non-verbal communication. To maintain the audience’s attention, it is important that your volume, speed and tone remain at a moderate level with subtle variations.
The ninth tip that will help you capture the audience’s attention and master the art of public speaking is to use humor to bring a smile to your audience. No laughter, we don’t want to distract too much from the information. Also, don’t forget that we all make mistakes, so if you say something wrong or can’t remember something, just put it to the side and get on with your presentation… Go for it!
