A lot of people face difficulties in public speaking; they become nervous while presenting themselves in front of a large audience. This is not a big problem, it’s natural, and a lot of well-known public speakers get nervous sometimes. To improve your public speaking skills, you need to invest your time in developing some essential traits that can help in providing effective public speaking.
Here are five tips to improve your public speaking skills:
Nervousness is normal- practice and prepare:
When you feel nervous then your heart starts pounding and your hands start trembling. This can happen to anyone and it is not a problem, just don’t think that being nervous will reduce the quality of your speech or you will perform poorly. When you feel nervous, your start getting sweat it’s because of the adrenaline rush that keeps you more alert and keeps you focused on your performance.
Well, if you want to overcome your nervousness then try to prepare your speech and practice as many times as you can to get a hold of it.
Know your audience:
“If you’re public speaking, imagine yourself feeling confident; if you’re nervous about a date and thinking, ‘I’m gonna be a dork,’ picture yourself being funny. Then it will be familiar to your brain,” said Lindsey Stirling, an American violinist, songwriter, and dancer. She presents choreographed violin performances, in live and music videos found on her official YouTube channel, which she created in 2007. Stirling performs a variety of music styles, from classical to pop and rock to electronic dance music.
Before you create your speech the first thing to keep in mind that what types of audience you are going to present your speech and from what work industry they come from. Learn more about your audience, so that you can able to select words, and phrases according to them, this will help you to put a positive impact on your audience. Once you know your audience then you will be able to motivate them more effectively.
Organize your material most effectively to attain your purpose:
If you want to make your speech effective then focus on creating a speech that has a purpose, also include some main points to specify your purpose. This will allow you to grab your audience’s attention in less than 60 seconds. If your audience understands the purpose of your speech then they will be able to connect with your speech more effectively.
Watch for feedback and adapt to it:
Stay focused on your audience while delivering the speech to keep them connected. Make sure to interact with the audience, let them feel that they are a part of your speech; this will allow you to deliver your purpose much better. Do not try to fake someone else because it will make the audience confused and they will disconnect from your speech.
Use humor, tell stories and use effective language:
Add some emotional stories so that your audience stays connected with you. Also, you can offer them some funny humor so that your audience does not get bored. Communicate effectively to help them understand the purpose of your speech.
Karen McCleave is an Assistant Crown Attorney for more than 30 years. Karen was born and educated in Sault Ste Marie. Karen Mccleave received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario, received her LL.B. from the University of Windsor, and was called to the Ontario Bar.
