Speaking in public is a skill that you can acquire, the more you practice, the better you will become. In this article not only will you learn how to overcome the fear of Public Speaking. Below are 10 tips and secrets you can learn to overcome your fear of public speaking and boost your Presentations
1. Starting Your Presentation
ü Start with a Personal Story
ü Start with a Question to create a Knowledge Gap
ü Start with a Quote
ü Start with an Interesting/Startling Statement
ü Start with a Shocking Statistic
2. Record Yourself and Learn Your Voice: Practicing public speaking can go a long way, as far as giving your audience a pleasant experience in listening and watching you in front. However, you should also listen to your voice. Practicing your speech countless times can help. Some people do not like listening to the sound of their voice on tape, so it is important that you get used to your own voice and speaking style.
3. Work on Your Breathing: Practice Breathing Exercises, Proper breathing technique is fundamental to having a strong, confident speaking voice. Performing some simple exercises will help you to project your sound and maintain a relaxed manner while speaking. Breathing exercises are particularly useful when you are preparing to speak in front of a group.
4. Watch your body language: It's what you don't say that tells the most about you. The way you stand and what you do with your hands can give away more than you care to reveal. Nervousness is easily read if you fidget or avoid eye contact.
5. Don’t let certain things distract you: When you are speaking in front of a large crowd, there is always a possibility for certain things to distract you. Some of which would include people standing up while you are talking, wicked eyes in the crowd or latecomers opening the doors. Keep in mind that these things will only become your distractions if you let them. Focus on your goals and fire your message through.
6. Warming up before your Presentation: Before you present, you have to warm yourself up physically and psychologically. As a speaker, you have to find your source of happiness i.e. things that make you happy and can inspire you before your presentation. For some people, listening to their favorite songs, motivational videos, playing with kids or meditating can keep and make them happy before they present. Before you speak, you must also take note of the time you will be having your presentation so that you can preserve and energize your voice to present e.g. if you are to present in the morning, you will have to wake up early and walk around, take some warm water, use your voice to sing, rehearse or talk to people to warm your voice up before your presentation time. If you are to present in the afternoon too, you need to preserve your voice during the day by speaking less and not using and exhausting your voice before your presentation. All these will give you a quality vocal delivery.
7. Walk on Stage with passion: As a professional speaker, you have to always walk on stage with passion and let it look as if you belong there. And that means everywhere you go because the world is your stage. This doesn’t mean that you ever appear arrogant or controlling – you simply give the impression that you are comfortable and belong there.
8. Visualize your success. Imagine yourself giving your speech: your voice is loud, clear and confident. Imagine hearing the audience’s applause – it will boost your confidence
9. Use a good closing story. It should be one that relates directly to your message and allows you to reiterate your main points. Less is more when it comes to closing, so keep your story succinct while being authentic. Essentially, your closing story should be close to your heart while summarizing your message.
10. Use Your Family and friends to Practice: You can use your family and friends as the audience to practice your presentation before the real presentation; you can ask them for their opinions and honest feedback during your performance without fear or favor. This will enable you to work hard on your delivery, content, voice and body language. You also have to take them seriously and present to them like a professional, don’t just look at them as your family and friends, but look at them as the real audience you will be speaking to on the D-day.
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