Improve Your Public Speaking Skills Leaving The Fear Behind

How To Leave The Fear of Public Speaking Behind And Give Good, Confident Speeches

A speaker giving his speech publicly There is nothing more terrifying that public speaking. Most people, given the option, have actually said they would rather die than get up in front of a large crowd and speak. Unfortunately for many people, not speaking in public is just not an option. Whether it's for school, for work or for something more personal like making a speech at a wedding, sometimes we just can't avoid this horrific task. Fortunately, there are several things that we can do to help to both alleviate the fear and give a great speech!

Pick your passion. Choosing a topic that you feel something about is a very easy way to become attached to the material, to feel confident about it and in turn give a better speech. Obviously this one isn't always within your complete control. I'm sure giving a speech on a topic that you loathe at work is surely not going to be something that you're passionate about. You can, however, try to find a way to spin the speech into something you have emotions about. For example, do you hate the way that some very basic procedure is done because you feel it's being done wrong? Take the opportunity to give a speech on what can be done to do it better!

Spend some time writing a great speech. Nothing makes for a worse speech or more to be nervous about than getting up and not having enough material, or worse, trying to wing it! While there are certainly some people in the world (and we're all certainly jealous) who can do this with ease, let's face it, we are not those people. Writing a draft, getting outside opinions, revising your draft and fine tuning it will not only give you the opportunity to write great material that you can be proud of, but it will also ensure that you've spent some time becoming familiar with your topic as well.

However, never read from the speech you have written. If you must, jot down the highlights on a few of those cue cards and keep it handy while making your speech. Again you do not want to depend on those cue cards - just take their help when it is an absolute necessity.

Be prepared. It might be a Boy Scout motto but it's also a great tip about anything in life. Taking the time to make preparations is worth an immeasurable amount when you're standing up in front of people! Don't make the mistake of taking your whole speech with you. You're going to look and sound like a robot if you simply read it off to everyone. Make yourself some cue cards that have topic sentences. Jot a few keywords around those topic sentences that remind you what your main points are. If you've followed the next piece of advice, you really won't need more than that, and you'll look more confident when you're only glancing and not staring at a piece of paper.

Practice, Practice, Practice! It may sound cliché but it is an absolute necessity! Time yourself, stand in front of a mirror, use your cue cards, try not using your cue cards, try standing up in front of a friend or even a few friends. These are all tried and true methods for practicing for a reason and the more you do it the more confident you will become. Think about it, why are you afraid to give a speech? One of the biggest fears that people have is that they will get up in front of people and forget what they were going to say. There is no better way to combat this than to practice your speech until you are comfortable with it. At this point it will almost become hard to forget, and then what is left to worry about?

Take a few minutes to yourself. Immediately before your speech, you're likely going to be a nervous wreck. People handle this in different ways, but the worst way that you can handle this is by completely ignoring it. Take a few moments, sit down, have a deep breath. Perhaps music soothes you, or you have a funny friend around who could tell you a joke. Whatever method you choose to use, your best bet is to make sure that you've considered in advance how you will calm your nerves and make sure it is available just before you're on.

Slow Down! Hopefully you've helped yourself alleviate some of the speed issue by practicing your speech. By reciting it over and over you will find a natural and comfortable speed that will make people feel comfortable with what you're saying, which in turn will make you appear more confident. However, standing up in front of people with a stomach full of butterflies will certainly make you a bit jittery, so make sure that you remind yourself to watch your pace as you go. Timing yourself during your practice and aiming for a certain pace will help, and using the same watch or stopwatch sit on a podium during a longer speech will help enable you to try to keep the same pace during the real deal.

Make Eye Contact. So now you're up there in front of everyone, ready to run screaming, sure you're going to fall apart at any moment. Find a focal point in the audience, a friendly face with a smile, and speak to that person. You're now giving a speech to just one friend! No problem, that's easy! Maybe pick a few familiar faces to focus on, for reassurance. Either way, making eye contact and picking friendly faces will not only calm you, but you put your eyes on level with the audience, which will assure them that you're looking directly at them. Nothing says confidence more than someone who can look you in the eye and speak about what they believe in.

Public speaking is truly one of the most feared things that a person can do. You certainly aren't going to be able to jump in and wing it, but you also don't need to focus all of your time and energy on it either. By spending a small amount of time in advance writing, planning, practicing, and focusing you can ready yourself to stand confident and assured when it comes time to make that dreaded public speech.

Now, since you're reading this article and this being a site built around best man and best man speeches, I would like to mention one last point. Best man speeches are lot easier than, for example, a seminar speech. You will be after all addressing to an audience a large section of which would probably consist of people you are quite familiar with. Never stress yourself worrying about making mistakes - you aren't any professional speaker and your audience understands that. You will be just fine as long as your speech is genuine and you speak from your heart.

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How To Leave The Fear of Public Speaking Behind And Give Good, Confident Speeches