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10 SureFire Steps to Take the Fear out of Public Speaking10 SureFire Steps to Take the Fear out of Public Speakingby Alan FairweatherDo you "feel the fear" when asked to do some Public Speaking? Public Speaking is still one of our greatest fears and it turns grown men and women into nervous wrecks. The mere thought of it turns our tongue to cotton wool, causes our internal plumbing to act up and turns our knees to jelly. Well, theres no need for all of this because help is at hand. All you need to remember are your Ps and Qs. Lets start with the Ps Preparation - When you sit down to write what youre going to say, bear in mind who youll be speaking to. Will they understand what youre talking about; will they understand the technical stuff and the jargon? If in doubt remember the old saying - "Keep It Simple Stupid". Make sure that what you say has a beginning, middle and an end. Think of some anecdotes that help reinforce your story. People think visually so paint verbal pictures for your audience. And always remember, people want to know whats in it for them - so make sure you tell them! Place - Have a look at the venue before the event if you can. Its not always possible, however, even if you get there half an hour before, you can check out where youll be speaking. Stand at the point where you will deliver from, imagine where the audience will be and check that they can see and hear you. You may even wish to place a glass of water where youll be able to find it. Personal Preparation - Before any Public Speaking event, think about what you are going to wear; when in doubt dress up rather than down. You can always take things off for a more casual look. Men could remove their jacket and their tie. Women could remove items of jewellery. Part of your personal preparation should include some mouth and breathing exercises. Practise saying some tongue twisters to give your speaking muscles a good work out. Take a deep breath and expand your diaphragm. Then breathe out, counting at the same time; try and get up to fifty and not pass out. As part of your personal preparation, write your own introduction. Write out exactly what you want someone to say about you, large font, double-spaced and ask the person introducing you to read it. Believe me they wont object and will probably be pleased and impressed. Poise and Posture - Whenever youre called to speak, stand up or walk to the front quickly and purposefully. Pull yourself up to your full height, stand tall and look like you own the place. Before you start to speak, pause, look round your audience and smile. You may even have to wait until the applause dies down. Remember, you want the audience to like you, so look likeable. Pretend - Im suggesting you pretend youre not nervous because no doubt you will be. Nervousness is vital for speaking in public, it boosts your adrenaline, which makes your mind sharper and gives you energy. The trick is to keep your nerves to yourself. On no account tell your audience your nervous; youll only scare the living daylights out of them if they think youre going to faint. Some tricks for dealing with nerves are: Before youre called to speak, get lots of oxygen into your system, run on the spot and wave your arms about like a lunatic. It burns off the stress chemicals. Speak to members of your audience as they come in or at some time before you stand up. That tricks your brain into thinking youre talking to some friends. Have a glass of water handy for that dry mouth. One word of warning - do not drink alcohol. It might give you Dutch courage but your audience will end up thinking youre speaking Dutch. The Presentation - Right from the start your delivery needs to grab their attention. Dont start by saying - "Good morning, my name is Fred Smith and Im from Smith Associates." Even if your name is Smith, its a real boring way to start a presentation. Far better to start with some interesting facts or an anecdote thats relevant to your presentation. Look at the audience as individuals; it grabs their attention if they think youre talking to them personally. Talk louder than you would normally do, it keeps the people in the front row awake and makes sure those at the back get the message. Funnily enough, its also good for your nerves. PowerPoint - And for those of you who havent heard of it, its a software programme thats used to design stunning graphics and text for projection onto a screen. As a professional speaker, Im not that struck on PowerPoint. I feel that too many speakers rely on it and it takes over the presentation. After all, youre the important factor here. If an audience is going to accept what you say then they need to see the whites of your eyes. There needs to be a big focus on you, not on the technology. Use PowerPoint if you want but keep it to a minimum and make sure youre not just the person pushing the buttons. Why not get a bit clever at using the faithful old Flip Chart, lots of professionals do. Passion - This is what stops the audience in their tracks. This is what makes them want to employ you or to accept what youre proposing. Couple this with some energy, enthusiasm and emotion and you have the makings of a great public speaker. Give your presentation a bit of oomph and dont start telling me - "Im not that kind of person." Theres no need to go over the top but youre doing a presentation to move people to action, not having a cosy little chat in your front room. Thats the Ps finished, so lets look at the Qs. Questions - Decide when youre going to take them and tell people at the start. In a short speech its best to take questions at the end. If you take them as you go then you may get waylaid and your timing will get knocked out. Never - never - never finish with questions; far better to ask for questions five or ten minutes before the end. Deal with the questions and then summarise for a strong finish. Too many presentations finish on questions and the whole thing goes a bit flat. When youre asked a question, repeat it to the whole audience and thank the questioner. It keeps everyone involved, it gives you time to think and it makes you look so clever and in control. Quit - Quit when youre ahead. Stick to the agreed time; if youre asked to speak for twenty minutes, speak for nineteen and the audience will love you for it. Remember, quality is not quantity. One of the most famous speeches ever - "The Gettysburg Address", by President Lincoln, was just over two minutes long. Right, thats my cue to quit when Im ahead. Now that youre armed with this information you too can minimise your fear of Public Speaking. Alan Fairweather - "The Motivation Doctor" -is the author of "How to get More Sales Without Selling" To receive your newsletter and free ebooks, visit: http://www.howtogetmoresales.com |