HOW TO BECOME A BETTER PUBLIC SPEAKER
Public speaking is the art of being able to convince; it is one of the most significant ways to let a number of people know your perspective; it is also a weapon that has changed minds, perceptions and many lives!
Being able to face a crowd and keeping personal views and opinions is a must in this highly competitive world. If you want to succeed, then art of public speaking will definitely reach you there faster and more conveniently.
Even though the importance of public speaking has been realised, many people get wet palms just as they know that they need to deliver a speech. This is completely natural as ‘ glossophobia’ (fear of public speaking) has been considered one of the greatest fears humans have ever experienced. So, here are some of the many tips anyone can follow when one is supposed to deliver a speech: –
i) Talk about something you know properly: –
One of the most important part of a speech is its content. Be careful to always choose a topic you have information about. If you don’t have knowledge on the particular topic you have got , then research about it and grab more and more information about it. Being enriched with such information will help you to frame your speech properly and, of course, you would never want to be half informed and let anyone in the audience prove any of your point wrong. This will even collect you a lot of confidence to deliver a speech. SO RESEARCH!
ii) Practice before the real performance: –
We have all heard about this statement- ‘Practice makes a man perfect’. So , it’s a good idea to frame your content in a good manner and practice it. It is more helpful if you do this infront of the mirror fantasizing that this is your real performance. Go through your line thoroughly, not once, not twice, but over and over again. This will no doubt, minimize the number of butterflies in your stomach during the real performance. SO, PRACTICE!
iii) Grab your audience’s attention: –
A good speaker is the one who is able to attract the audience towards what he is saying. This is one of the most important, yet the most difficult aspects of public speaking. The first one is your appearance. Dress well! Your dress doesn’t need to be worth a million dollars, but it needs to at least be suitable according to the occasion and properly ironed. Also, notice that your posture is appropriate. Always stand straight with your legs slightly apart to appear smart and confident.
4) Know your audience: –
A good public speaker is always relevant to the occasion and the audience. Every person has his own taste. A bunch of students will never enjoy a one- hour- long speech on ‘ how to run a joint stock company ‘. It becomes real difficult to connect to your audience if what you are saying is not relevant to them. Neither the speaker, nor the listener is going to enjoy when this happens. So, before starting up your presentation, know who you are talking to. If you cannot identify, the best way is polling. For eg. you may ask- “how many of you are business persons here? “. Therefore, know your audience well.
5) Use the power of eye-contact and cadence: –
Imagine, you’re on the stage, you take out a note from your pocket and start reading out exactly whatever is written there in the pace of a parrot! No connection to the stage or the audience! Many wouldn’t even consider it a speech. So, the best idea is to look at your audience, to look into each one of their eyes and make a connection with them. It’s also not a very good idea to just rest your eye on someone you personally know or straight at the front walls. Try looking into their eyes, connect with them. Also vary your speaking tone , volume, tensions; use appropriate gestures and sound like a story rather than a speech. This will help you appear as a more confident speaker.
Moreover the above tips are only a few tips but only determination and regular practice is going to make one good on stage. But, it is not very easy to apply all of the above tips at once while you speak. So, an easier way can be picking any of these tips and practicing until you are perfect at it. Then, add up another point and practice both of them simultaneously. Likewise, repeat this until you frame each and every one of these aspects perfectly into your speech. So, GOOD LUCK!.
