The Art And Science Of Public Speaking

If you are one of many people who are terrified of public speaking  then you are probably in a majority! Even people who are very good at public speaking try to avoid it and become terrified at the thought of it. Public speaking could be as simple as chairing a meeting, giving a presentation, or leading a discussion. On the other hand, it could also mean taking to a podium and speaking to hundreds, thousands and so on…

So what is the answer to mastering the fear? The answer: Don’t even try! Accept the nerves and the anxiety and learn to channel them! Even the best public speakers and performers will become nervous. If you are hoping to enjoy public speaking before hand – it will probably never happen… You will of course experience a buzz afterwards – if you feel that it goes well.

Top tips:

• Know your subject – and know that you know it! This will give you confidence…
• Break your session down into bullet points and set our a simple skeleton outline of your session. Then simply use the outline and talk about the bullets without having to remember… Remembering is difficult and can kill some of the freestyle passion that you will inject if you talk from the heart. Plus, forgetting your lines is one of the biggest worries, and now it won’t be an issue!
• Get the audience to participate. It engages them and buys you thinking time… You can do this by asking them questions (hands up who?) Type of questions. You can progress to open questions, or ask a secondary question of who had their hand up or not…
• The ice breaker is key. Have a well rehearsed ice breaker up your sleeve. This will relax you and the audience. The toughest part is the start. If the start goes well then everything clicks into place.