Tips for Reducing Public Speaking Nervousness.

Tips for Reducing Public Speaking Nervousness.

“There are two types of speakers. Those who get nervous and those who are liars.”

― Mark Twain

Did you know that according to the Wall Street Journal, public speaking is the number one fearin America?  The fear of death is ranked number two!  That’s right—we seem more afraid of public speaking than we are of physical demise, heights, jumping out of a plane, or dreaded in-laws.  

If you think about it, fear of public speaking is also a fear of death—an emotional death.  We feel naked and exposed in front of an audience.  We think people are going to scrutinize everything we say and do.  We pressure ourselves to be perfect, or else our self-worth suffers.  We dread confronting the possibility of rejection.  

Now for the good news, most of us can reduce our anxiety of public speaking and increase our confidence by avoiding a few poor habits, while incorporating some helpful tips. The following are five tips to reducing public speaking nervousness, excerpted from my reference guide (click on title): "Ten Tips for Presentation Confidence and Reducing Nervousness(link is external)".

1.  Don’t Expect Perfection from Yourself 

None of us are perfect.  We all know that.  Yet when it comes to public speaking, some of us tend to kick ourselves over every little perceived mistake we make.  We magnify our imperfections, while ignoring all that’s good and well.  The truth is, even the best, most experienced speakers make many mistakes.  When they do, they recover, keep going gracefully, and all is well.  This is one of the keys to public speaking success: to keep going gracefully.  The audience will never know most of your mistakes, unless you halt your speech, break down, and confess them.  Carry on with poise.  Give yourself permission not to be perfect. 

2.  Avoid Equating Public Speaking to Your Self-Worth

If you’re reading this article, you’re probably a successful professional who has worked hard to get to where you are today.  Public speaking is only a small part of your overall professional ability.  If you’re not confident at it, there are many ways to help you improve.  I’ve seen otherwise intelligentand capable professionals shrivel up on stage, as if suddenly nothing about them is right.  Whether you’re good at public speaking or not has nothing to do with your value as a person.  It’s simply a skill that you can learn and become better at with practice.

3.  Avoid Being Nervous About Your Nervousness

Singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, legendary for his live concert performances, once observed that if he felt completely relaxed before a show, he wouldn’t perform as well as if he had felt nervous.  Springsteen knows how to channel his nervousness into excitement and power on stage. 

Speakers who lack confidence often feel nervous, and then on top of that feel anxious about the fact that they’re nervous, which compounds the anxiety.  That’s a lot of stress to bear.  

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Nervousness is our adrenaline flowing, that’s all.  It’s a form of energy.  Successful speakers know how to make this energy work for them, and turn nervousness into enthusiasm, engagement, and charisma.  They have fun with it (see confidence tips #8 and #10 below).  It’s okay to be nervous.  Make the energy work for you. 

4.  Avoid Trying to Memorize Every Word

Unless you’re reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or your marriage vows, there’s no need to memorize every word of any speech.  Attempting to do so will simply increase stress, and cause greater nervousness if the sequence of the words you’re trying to memorize goes amiss. 

5.  Avoid Reading Word for Word

Avoid reading your presentation word for word from a script.  There’s a big difference between reading and speaking.  Dry reading disseminates information, often at the risk of the audience tuning out.  Speaking is creating an impact with your content and personality, so that not only is your message understood, your professional profile rises.  People who read excessively from a script in the U.S. effectively reduce their chances of upward advancement.  

What is a public speaking outline? Public Speaking Outline Example.

A Public Speaking Outline Example.

So you want to create a speech. You know the content, you know the message you want to get across but you need a structure of how you are going to deliver your presentation so that its effective and its get through to the audience. Today I am giving you a public speaking outline example to accomplish just that.

What is a public speaking outline?

A public speaking outline is the structure of your speech in basic form. So that might be bullet points on how you are going to progress through things. It could even be a mind map.

It’s up to you how you structure your speech and how your speech flows but a public speaking outline should show you as a speaker exactly how your speech is meant to flow and give you clues to how you can create your speech better.

The whole idea is that we create an outline before we create our speech.

A Very Simple Public Speaking Outline Example

Introduction

Main Body

Point 1

Point 2

Point 3

Conclusion

That’s very simple example of an outline.

An outline exist to help you to create a structure for your speech so then you can then extrapolate that out, expand that out and create a full speech.

An outline is also used when you have created your speech and now you want to condense it to make it smaller and use it as a reference point when you are giving your presentation.

A public speaking outline is very effective tool that many professional speakers use to understand and know what they are going to deliver.

1. Introduction

So with your introduction how do we set that up? What’s the outline below introduction?

When we are looking at the introduction we need to look at firstly, what content we are trying to get across and how we going to introduce that in a way that engages the audience.

One of the biggest mistake people make is they get up in front of the people and they say, “Hello, my name is Ryan McLean and I am 25 yrs old, I work in this company, I have worked in the industry for eight years and I have done this and I have done that”.

The people in audience are actually falling asleep in their chairs. We want to engage our audience and we want to get them to buy in to our presentation and buy into our introduction.

So there are four ways that are recommended you can to do this:

With a Quote

With A Question

With A Factoid

With A Story

The introduction is very important. So think of some different ways that you can introduce your topic to make it exciting, to make interesting because whole goal of the introduction is to get people excited to listen to the rest of your presentation.

2. The Body Of Your Presentation

You can construct the body in any way that you want.

So with that body we want main messages that we need to get across to let say we have got good introduction then we got body and in that body what we going to have is three points.

So we are going to have one, two, three and in your outline you will list those three main messages and then you will then make a note of a story that you want to tell or quote that you want to give or statistic or some reference that you want to provide to back up the point that you are presenting.

3. The Conclusion

You want to wrap up the conclusion and in some way you want to bring it back to the message that you already delivered or if possible the core message that you are delivering.

The conclusion is probably the thing that will be remembered the most. Find an interesting way to do that and then if possible and if required and appropriate give a call to action.

The call to action could be ‘Go to the back and sign up’, or it could be something as simple as ‘Think about X why you doing Y’.

So there we have a public speaking outline.

1. Introduction – how are we going to introduce to topic? Are we going use a quote, a question, a factoid or a story?

2. Body – How many points do we have and what do we using to support those points

3. Conclusion – How are we going to wrap it up and give a call to action?

So, there you have public speaking outline example that you can use. It is a very simple way to help you create a public speech and act as a reference point for your speech so you can remember and present with confidence.

8 Public Speaking Techniques To Wow Your Audience.

8 Public Speaking Techniques To Wow Your Audience.

The goals of professional speaking are to entertain, inform, inspire, and to get the audience to take action. The truth is, in order for your presentation or speech to have its greatest effect you need to be able to entertain and wow your audience.

I’m going to give you 8 ways  to keep any audience on the edge of their seats until the end of the talk:

 

1) Say Something Right Off The Bat That Connects To The Audience

Let me give you an example of how I open a talk, and you know I’ve given over 5,000 talks and seminars. I almost always open with the same words.

I say, “Congratulations for being here. This means that you are in the top ten percent of adults in our society today.”

I say this in Russia, I say it in China, Finland, Canada, and I say it in Atlanta.

“You are among the top ten percent of adults in our society today.”

“Why is that?”

“It’s because you’re here.”

“You see, only the top ten percent of people in any society ever come to a seminar like this to learn how to be better in some way. The other 90 percent always have a reason for not being here.”

Then I’ll ask, “How many of you know people who could have been here but had an excuse for not coming?”

Everybody in the audience nods and visualizes and thinks of the person who’s not here, who is usually not a very successful person.

Then I tell them that the fact they are here means that they are in the top ten percent.

And by the way, how can you tell who a person really is?

How can you tell what they believe in, what their goals are, and what their hopes, dreams and values are? Can you tell by what they say? Is it what they hope or wish?

No.

It’s only what they do. The fact is that you are here. You’ve taken the actions to be here, and that means you’re in the top ten percent.

Then I’ll say, “Many of you are thinking that if he knew how much money I’m making, he wouldn’t say I was in the top ten percent.”

“Maybe not, but remember that it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from. All that really matters is where you’re going.” 

“And where you are going is determined by what you are doing in the moment. And the fact that you are here means that you intend to have a great future. Remember that future intention determines present action.”

That’s how I start off.

I’ll even say that I’m going to share some ideas with them, that are practiced by the top ten percent of people in this field. I’ll tell them that these ideas can help them to move ahead faster than they ever imagined possible. Then I launch into my talk.

Listen to how Steve Jobs connects to his audience almost immediately in his 2005 Stanford Commencement address.

 

2) Connect With Emotion

Sometimes when I’m talking to my audiences I will say, “Tell me, what percentage of people’s thinking is emotional, and what percentage is rational or logical?”

And people will guess for a while, and then they’ll finally say, “Oh, well it’s ten percent logical and 80 or 90 percent emotional.”

I tell them no.

People’s thinking is 100 percent emotional.

What does this mean?

This means that people think emotionally, and justify logically.

The subconscious mind, and our emotions actually function at several thousand times the speed of logic.

For example, you may meet a person and instantly like them. You may find later that there are a lot of reasons for you to instantly like that person. Your emotions acted like a switchblade, instantaneously, but your logic followed after and you figured out the reasons.

 

3) Tell The Audience How Good They Are

Throughout the talk I will loop back and say.

“Because you’re in the top ten percent, you know this…”

“People in the top ten percent like yourself do this…”

“People who aspire to be in the top ten percent set goals or manage their time this way.”

So I’m always linking back and telling them that they are in the top ten percent and that’s how good they are. Now that’s one way to make it entertaining and enjoyable, because people will all smile and feel happy.

They’re thinking…

“Boy, this guy’s really smart. I didn’t even realize I was in the top ten percent until he told me.”

 

4) Link Back To Your Opening During Your Speech

Starting with a strong opening line or a really good story that you can link and hook your whole talk back into, is very, very powerful.

And I’ve done this year after year.

More on storytelling to come…

 

5) Relate To The Audience’s Self-Interests

What motivates people to be really interested in your talk, aside from the subject, which many of them may have to be there for?

Many people have told me that they were forced to come to my seminar. They didn’t want to come, because they didn’t think they would learn anything.

So they weren’t there because I was such a wonderful person. They were there because they had to be.

The question you have to ask is, what are the motivations that you need to appeal to so that they will really listen?

Truthfully, I’ve found is that one of the great motivations is self-interest.

That’s why I ask how many people would like to double their income.

They all raise their hands spontaneously.

Then I say, “Well, in the time we spend together I’m going to give you several ways that you can double your income. These are ways that have been tested and proven by people all over the world. They’ve done these things over and over, and I’ve used them myself to go from from rags to non-rags. I’ll give you those same ideas. Would that be a good use of our time together today?”

And they all say yes, yes.

I have their total interest.

If you’re speaking on golf for example, you ask if they would like to reduce their score by five strokes, every single game consistently.

“Well I’m going to show you how to do that using psychological and physical techniques.”

 

6) Entertain Your Audience With Stories

The key to entertaining an audience is stories. Stories are the most important part of a good presentation.

You can tell very short stories, and they can be your stories or someone else’s stories.

If it’s your personal story, that’s even better.

But if it’s someone else’s story that is just fine.

Start by saying, “I heard a story just the other day.”

And then you tell the story.

Or, “Let me tell you a story,” or “This is something I heard recently that really moved me.”

Whenever you start to tell a story, the whole audience pays 100 percent attention.

When you’re giving facts and figures and details and strategies, methods and techniques, they will pay a certain amount of attention.

But when you tell a story they will listen intently.

And if you can design your talk around three stories, you’ll be amazed at the response.

 

Design Your Talk Around 3 Stories

When you think about your talk, remember that “Less is more.”

This should be the basic structure of your talk:

Your opening.

Your 3 key points.

Your close

You have a strong opening, first key point, and then a story.

Transition, second key point, and a story.

Transition, third key point, and a story.

Summarize, and then a close.

The stories link it all together. And you can tell stories that are inspiring, or emotional; that make people feel very strongly. You can tell stories that are motivational; that have to do with greater success and achievement as the result of persisting.

 

7) Appeal To Patriotism, Loyalty Or Personal Gain

You can appeal to certain motivations to gain the attention of your audience.

For example:

“Our country is going through great difficulties today and I’m going to give you five things that we have to do to make America once again the land of the free, the home of the brave, and full of opportunity for you, and me, and for our kids.”

So you have to ask yourself what are the motivations of the people in your audience.

 

8) Tell The Audience EXACTLY What They Are Going To Gain

The great motivation is a desire for gain.

If you can convey to them that they’re going to gain things from your talk, like time, money, or greater success or prestige in any area, then they will be listening and they’ll want to know how they can do that.

A wonderful way you can open a talk, by the way, is you can say “There are three things you need to do if you want to double your income in the next 12 months.”

Then you pause.

The Power Of The Pause

When you pause, do you know what happens?

Before you keep reading, watch this video on the power of the pause:

People lean forward and say to themselves, “I wonder what it is. They wonder what the three things are.”

Then you say, “The three things are these. You have to be able to do this, and this, and this.”

And then the question they ask in their mind is “I wonder how to do that.”

Now it’s almost like fishing…

You just reel them in.

Using any of these tips can help you entertain an audience throughout your entire presentation, no matter how long it is.

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 4.

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 4.

Define Your End Goal

The first thing to do when preparing a speech is to define your end goal. What do you want the audience to do after they leave the room? What information should they walk away with? Once you’ve defined what you want your audience to take away, build your talking points around supporting that goal. This lends itself to a more focused and actionable speech that provides real value to your audience. For example, let’s say a big conference has invited you to speak about how small businesses can grow their sales organizations. Start by nailing down your objective. If it’s getting the audience to hire you as a sales consultant, build your speaking topic around five things preventing small sales organizations from scaling.

 

 

Make Slides an Aid, Not a Crutch

The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association recommends using keywords, instead of sentences or paragraphs on your slides. This helps your audience focus on your message. The ASHA also suggest bulleting body copy, using punctuation sparingly, and never using more than eight words per line or eight lines per slide. Another rule of thumb is to make your font size double the average age of your audience. This means the font for most of your presentations will be between 60 and 80 points. When it comes to the age-old question “Prezi or PowerPoint?”, a recent Harvard study suggests there is a right answer. Research shows that Prezi’s “focus on meaningful movement” makes it a more effective presentation medium than PowerPoint. So next time you want to impress your audience, give Prezi a try.

 

Practice (But Really, Practice)

Are you already rolling your eyes and skimming past this section? I don’t blame you. But so often, public speakers are under-prepared. Maybe your assistant created your slides and you’ve just scrolled through them a few times. Or maybe you’ve rehearsed your presentation by yourself, but haven’t run it by anyone else. Make sure you’re practicing your presentation in front of several groups of people. Present to coworkers or to someone who represents your target audience. Ask for honest, critical feedback on the good, the bad, and the ugly of your presentation. It’s also smart to record yourself during one of your practice runs, so that you can review areas that need work.

 

Eat Well & Burn Cortisol

Eating a protein-packed snack before a public speaking engagement boosts your energy, focus, and mood. But what if there were a way to decrease stress too? Well, there is. Cortisol, also known as the "stress hormone," can interfere with your memory and limit your ability to process complex information. This can make it difficult to read your audience and react in the moment. To decrease your cortisol levels, exercise one to three hours before you speak. You’ll feel less stressed and your audience will benefit from your focus.

 

Meet Audience Members First

It’s always a good idea to meet a few of your audience members before taking the stage. This is a great way to calm pre-presentation jitters, not to mention network and recruit a few last-minute audience members into your meeting or session. Bonus points if you find a way to incorporate those conversations into your speech. To illustrate, suppose you talked with Laura from XYZ Sales at the coffee bar this morning. If Laura shared that sales recruitment is a big roadblock to scaling their sales team, include this anecdote in your presentation, along with tips on how you would approach the situation.

 

Give Yourself Time to Acclimate

Many speakers begin talking immediately after being introduced or walking onstage. Instead, try approaching the stage in silence. This gives you time to gather your thoughts, take a deep breath, and get used to being in front of the audience. It gives your audience the chance to get used to you as well. If they’re checking email or answering some last-minute texts, it provides a few buffer moments so they can wrap up. This pause also sets the tone for the rest of your speech, which should be evenly paced, effective, and purposeful.

 

Don’t Open with an Excuse

How many times have you heard a speaker start by saying, “Sorry, I didn’t have much time to prepare,” or “My flight was delayed last night, so I’m a little tired”? Your audience doesn’t care. Announcing to them that you haven’t prepared or are tired from a long flight won’t change the way your presentation is received or remembered. Don’t begin your presentation with an excuse. That makes the time about you, when it should be about your audience and how you can provide value to them.

 

Be Conversational

The first 30 seconds of a speaker’s presentation tell you almost everything you need to know about what’s next. That means you probably haven’t made it past introducing yourself before you’ve either lost or gained the attention of your audience. So how do you make the most of that first few seconds? First, be conversational. Use inflection in your voice and engage in natural, friendly body language. Instead of staying glued to your podium, walk casually back and forth in front of your audience. Gesture with your hands and make eye contact with individual people in front of you. Second, don’t memorize your content. You should understand the concepts you’re communicating and know the overall structure of your presentation, but don’t recite your speech word for word. You’ll seem rehearsed and less engaging.

 

Rejoice in the First Mistake

I once had an instructor who would openly rejoice when she made her first mistake in front of a large class. She said it took the pressure off for the remainder of her class, so she could simply relax and teach. While I wouldn’t recommend calling out the first mistake you make in front of your audience -- they likely didn’t even notice -- it is something you can quickly take note of internally. Don’t beat yourself up about it, feel embarrassed, or let it derail your composure. Simply acknowledge your first mistake and view it as permission to relax and move on with your presentation.

 

Tell Stories & Make It Personal

Think your audience doesn’t care about personal stories? Let me put it this way. They probably care more about the story you just told than the pie chart on the screen behind you. Your audience is more likely to remember and share the stories you tell than the stats and figures you pack your slides with. Make your presentation personal, and remind them that you’re human. Check out a few top TED Talks to learn how to flex your storytelling muscles. TED Talks are driven by powerful storytelling -- which is one of the reasons they’re so memorable. Stories also give your audience more context around your topic, heightening their ability to relate and find value in what you have to say. Basically, when in doubt, tell a story.

 

Channel Nervous Energy into Positive Energy

If you’re not excited about your presentation, why would your audience be? One way to channel excitement into your public speaking is to transform nervous energy into positive energy. Simon Sinek has another great insight here. After watching reporters interview Olympic athletes, he noticed many of the athletes had similar responses when asked if they were nervous before competing. They answered, “No, I was excited.” Sinek points out that they translated the body’s signals of anxiety or stress -- sweaty palms, neck tension, fast heartbeat -- as excitement. When Sinek’s onstage and notices these same signs, he says out loud to himself, “I’m not nervous, I’m excited!”

 

Speak Slowly & Pause Often

Speaking slowly is hard to do -- especially when you’re giving a presentation. But not only does a slower speed make it easier for your audience to understand, it also makes you seem more composed and thoughtful. Your pacing should feel a little unnatural. Only then have you probably found the right cadence. Another way to control the pace of your presentation is to routinely pause for between three and five seconds. This length of pause remains conversational, while allowing you to take a breath and refocus before moving forward. As a bonus, it’s just long enough to get people to look up from their smartphones to see why you’ve stopped.

 

Repeat Audience Questions

Whether you’re working a large room or a three-person meeting, try to repeat audience questions. In large settings, it gives everyone a chance to hear what was asked, keeping them engaged with and invested in your answer. In smaller settings, repeating audience questions gives you an extra few moments to gather your thoughts. More importantly, it ensures that you’ve understood what the question is and are actively listening to the needs of your audience members.

 

Reinforce Key Points

Repeating key points at multiple times throughout your presentation helps your audience retain what’s most important. A simple technique for doing so? Mention each key point three times. Introduce your main points in the agenda you share at the beginning, speak to each point clearly during your presentation, and close by reviewing and restating your main points.

 

Use Video & GIFs Sparingly

I know, I know -- this one is unpopular. GIFs and video can be a great way to break up your presentation and re-engage a drifting audience. But they can also distract listeners from the important points you’re making. When appropriate, throw in a GIF or video. But make sure it aids in your storytelling, instead of distracting from it. A truly engaging public speaker will be able to present impactfully without gimmicks. If you’re tempted to add a third GIF to your presentation, take a harder look at the quality of content you’re preparing. Could you illustrate that point better with a thoughtful anecdote or past experience?

 

Always End Early & Say Thanks

Whether your audience gave you five minutes of their attention or an hour, end early and say, “Thank you.” Time is a precious commodity, and they chose to spend a significant portion of it with you. Be respectful of that time and always end early -- especially if you’re expecting a longer Q&A period. If people have questions, you want to make the most of every second before you lose them to the next session or meeting.

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 3.

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 3.

Don’t talk right away

Sinek says you should never talk as you walk out on stage. "A lot of people start talking right away, and it's out of nerves," Sinek says. "That communicates a little bit of insecurity and fear." Instead, quietly walk out on stage. Then take a deep breath, find your place, wait a few seconds and begin. "I know it sounds long and tedious and it feels excruciatingly awkward when you do it," Sinek says, "but it shows the audience you're totally confident and in charge of the situation."

 

Show up to give, not to take

Often people give presentations to sell products or ideas, to get people to follow them on social media, buy their books or even just to like them. Sinek calls these kinds of speakers "takers," and he says audiences can see through these people right away. And, when they do, they disengage. "We are highly social animals," says Sinek. "Even at a distance on stage, we can tell if you're a giver or a taker, and people are more likely to trust a giver -- a speaker that gives them value, that teaches them something new, that inspires them -- than a taker."

 

Make eye contact with audience members one by one

Scanning and panning is your worst enemy, says Sinek. "While it looks like you're looking at everyone, it actually disconnects you from your audience." It's much easier and effective, he says, if you directly look at specific audience members throughout your speech. If you can, give each person that you intently look at an entire sentence or thought, without breaking your gaze. When you finish a sentence, move on to another person and keep connecting with individual people until you're done speaking. "It's like you're having a conversation with your audience," says Sinek. "You're not speaking at them, you're speaking with them." This tactic not only creates a deeper connection with individuals but the entire audience can feel it.

 

Speak unusually slowly

When you get nervous, it's not just your heart beat that quickens. Your words also tend to speed up. Luckily Sinek says audiences are more patient and forgiving than we know. "They want you to succeed up there, but the more you rush, the more you turn them off," he says. "If you just go quiet for a moment and take a long, deep breath, they'll wait for you. It's kind of amazing." Sinek believes it's impossible to speak too slowly on stage. "It's incredible that you can stand on stage and speak so slowly that there are several seconds between each of your words and people... will... hang... on... your... every... word. It really works."

 

Ignore the naysayers

Dismiss the people furrowing their brows, crossing their arms or shaking their heads "no." Instead, focus only on your supporters -- the people who are visibly engaged, enjoying your presentation and nodding "yes." If you find the audience members who are positively interacting with you, you'll be much more confident and relaxed than if you try to convince the naysayers.

 

Turn nervousness into excitement

Sinek learned this trick from watching the Olympics. A few years ago he noticed that reporters interviewing Olympic athletes before and after competing were all asking the same question. "Were you nervous?" And all of the athletes gave the same answer: "No, I was excited." These competitors were taking the body's signs of nervousness -- clammy hands, pounding heart and tense nerves -- and reinterpreting them as side effects of excitement and exhilaration. When you're up on stage you will likely go through the same thing. That's when Sinek says you should say to yourself out loud, "I'm not nervous, I'm excited!" "When you do, it really has a miraculous impact in helping you change your attitude to what you're about to do," Sinek says.

 

Say thank you when you’re done

Applause is a gift, and when you receive a gift, it's only right to express how grateful you are for it. This is why Sinek always closes out his presentations with these two simple yet powerful words: thank you. "They gave you their time, and they're giving you their applause." Says Sinek. "That's a gift, and you have to be grateful."

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 2.

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 2.

There are few skills that will bring more opportunity into your life than the ability to speak well in public. Below are 12 tips that can make the difference between those speakers who leave a powerful, positive impression and those that are quickly forgotten.

 

Speak with an intent to move people to action

Know what you want your audience to do immediately after hearing your speech. If nobody does anything different than they would have done before you spoke – the value of your speech is zero.

 

Start strong with a “grabber”.

A personal story, a quote from an expert or a shocking statistic – something that takes a hold of your audience and gets them hooked and opens their mind to your message. Give the audience a chance to see your personal connection to the topic.

 

Structure your material in three sections–

grabber, middle, close. Know your material. Get really interested in the topic. Find good stories.

 

Practice.

Practice.Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Use a clock to check your timings and allow time for the unexpected.

 

Know the audience.

Try to speak to one or two people in the audience as they arrive – they will be your allies in the audience – it is easier to speak to friends than to strangers.

 

Know the setup.

Arrive in good time to check out the speaking area and get practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

 

Relax.

Begin with a well prepared grabber. A relevant personal story is a great start. It establishes your credibility. It connects you to the audience and creates the right emotional atmosphere (and calms your nerves).

 

Visualize yourself successful.

See yourself at the end of the speech surrounded by people asking questions, visualize the applause.

 

Pauses.

Include 3-8 second pauses at key moments – just before key statements or just after a story – this really brings the audience into the speech.

 

Don’t apologize–

the audience probably never noticed it.

 

Smile.

Look like the content matters to you – if the audience don’t feel that it is important to you, it will be really hard for them to feel that it should be important for them.

 

Get experience.

Take every opportunity you can get to speak (and listen to other speakers). Prepare well ahead of time. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking.

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 1.

Extra Public Speaking Tips Part 1.

Nervousness Is Normal. Practice and Prepare!

All people feel some physiological reactions like pounding hearts and trembling hands. Do not associate these feelings with the sense that you will perform poorly or make a fool of yourself. Some nerves are good. The adrenaline rush that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and ready to give your best performance. The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. Take the time to go over your notes several times. Once you have become comfortable with the material, practice—a lot. Videotape yourself, or get a friend to critique your performance.

 

Know Your Audience. Your Speech Is About Them, Not You.

Before you begin to craft your message, consider who the message is intended for. Learn as much about your listeners as you can. This will help you determine your choice of words, level of information, organization pattern, and motivational statement.

 

Organize Your Material in the Most Effective Manner to Attain Your Purpose.

Create the framework for your speech. Write down the topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points. Make sure to grab the audience’s attention in the first 30 seconds.

 

Watch for Feedback and Adapt to It.

Keep the focus on the audience. Gauge their reactions, adjust your message, and stay flexible. Delivering a canned speech will guarantee that you lose the attention of or confuse even the most devoted listeners.

 

Let Your Personality Come Through.

Be yourself, don’t become a talking head—in any type of communication. You will establish better credibility if your personality shines through, and your audience will trust what you have to say if they can see you as a real person.

 

Use Humor, Tell Stories, and Use Effective Language.

Inject a funny anecdote in your presentation, and you will certainly grab your audience’s attention. Audiences generally like a personal touch in a speech. A story can provide that.

 

Don’t Read Unless You Have to. Work from an Outline.

Reading from a script or slide fractures the interpersonal connection. By maintaining eye contact with the audience, you keep the focus on yourself and your message. A brief outline can serve to jog your memory and keep you on task.

 

Use Your Voice and Hands Effectively. Omit Nervous Gestures.

Nonverbal communication carries most of the message. Good delivery does not call attention to itself, but instead conveys the speaker’s ideas clearly and without distraction.

 

Grab Attention at the Beginning, and Close with a Dynamic End.

Do you enjoy hearing a speech start with “Today I’m going to talk to you about X”? Most people don’t. Instead, use a startling statistic, an interesting anecdote, or concise quotation. Conclude your speech with a summary and a strong statement that your audience is sure to remember.

 

Use Audiovisual Aids Wisely.

Too many can break the direct connection to the audience, so use them sparingly. They should enhance or clarify your content, or capture and maintain your audience’s attention.

 

Practice Does Not Make Perfect

Good communication is never perfect, and nobody expects you to be perfect. However, putting in the requisite time to prepare will help you deliver a better speech. You may not be able to shake your nerves entirely, but you can learn to minimize them.

26 Public Speaking Tips From An Actor & Professional Speaker.

26 Public Speaking Tips From An Actor & Professional Speaker.

 

The speech starts with your bio before you walk on stage. Bio should be over the top powerful and impressive. Then open with something sincere and self-effacing to disarm the audience.

You DON’T have to tell them what you’re going to tell them. Open with a surprise, a shock…an interaction, something that makes connection, entertains, exposes, etc.

You need to cut lots of info OUT of your stories and better detail with specifics critical parts of your stories. How much do they need to know to get to the a-ha moment; less than you think.

An entire story is designed to serve the end.

Establish right away that you know what the world looks like for them—and what it could look like. Vividly paint the picture.

You must reward them for doing something or contributing in some way.

Use palm up instead of finger for pointing. Sometimes the finger looks like a gun and is rude in some cultures. Palm up serves up the floor to them in a more gracious way.

People say “Yes” when we’ve affected them intellectually, emotionally or physically.

If you’re teaching content (which has some differences from a “message” speech) outline first then go back and unpack it.  Outline and then make the case.

Use props. What can you show, demo, depict with things rather than words.

Use contrast/extremes to create excitement and keep attention. Contrast can be emotional, physically, structural. This is basic in every great play, film, and music composition.

Keep your energy and speech moving forward. Never let the energy drop.

Audiences like to think that events on the stage are happening spontaneously. They like to be surprised. The great actor does this brilliantly. The Speaker needs to as well.

Love Michael’s phrase: STAND AND LAND. Let your punch lines, point lines and purpose lines land.

You can move and talk at the same time (people do it all the time in real life) but not on or over the most important points.

Don’t say, “I’m glad to be here.” Audience should see that in your presentation. No need to tell them.

Don’t tell them you’re going to tell a story. Just tell the story.

Every rule is made to be broken but to break a performance/stage rule you have to know the rules, why they exist and why you’re breaking them (only do it for a better result).

Be very conscientious about connecting the dots or you’ll lose your audience.

When giving info for people to write down, give them time to write it down for goodness sake.

You can blow their mind in just a few minutes (example: TED talks). Never apologize for the amount of time you don’t have. They should feel that the amount of time you have is the perfect amount of time.

Audiences love to be let out a few minutes early—even if they LOVE your performance.

Enlist the self-proclaimed experts in the room. It’ll help knock the chips off their shoulders and get them on your side supporting your message.

Slight embellishment and/or combining stories into one better story is fine. It’s a performance, a show. Go for what is most dramatic and effective to get your message across.

Remember they don’t know what you know. It’s the first time they’ve heard your info.

Show them what the world will look like if they DON’T change, if the DON’T follow your advice.

Making Public Speaking Easier.

Making Public Speaking Easier.

A lot of people hate giving presentations in front of an audience, whether it is just one person or an entire Mongolian horde. Unfortunately for research scientists, public speaking is part of the job and can affect how successful you are at getting your ideas heard, advancing your career and receiving more funding.

 

Here are some top tips for making public speaking easier:

 

Know your audience

Scientists often have to give presentations to a variety of people; from school children to the public, undergraduates and other experts in their field. Ensure that the content, language, tone, body language is appropriate for the audience.

Furthermore, try to understand why the audience is listening. Ask: “what will I gain from listening to this talk?” as if you were in the audience yourself. Be clear about your goal and what the audience should o btain by attending. Additionally, establish your credibility. Tell your audience why they should listen to you.

Conquer your fear

Easier said than done, but understanding how your nerves affect your ability to speak publicly is a good start. Knowing what might happen will help to calm your nerves and carry on if they start.

Firstly, the more prepared you are, the better and less nervous you will be and the better you will be able to deal with any mishaps.

Do not drink caffeine beforehand it will heighten your anxiety. But do take water in case you get a dry mouth.

Eat something beforehand, a low sugar level won’t help to dispel any nervous thoughts and will also affect your concentration levels.

Remember that the audience is not there to see you. They are much more interested in what you have to say. They also have no interest in you failing; they are your friends not your enemies. Remember that you are speaking as a service to your attendees, this helps focus less on you and more on the content.

Don’t tell the audience you are nervous. Nearly everyone suffers from some anxiety about public speaking; it is rarely as obvious from the outside as it feels.

If necessary, use breathing and relaxation techniques before you begin to help settle any last minute jitters.

Try to enjoy yourself (or at least look like it!)

If you look bored, then the audience will think you are bored. And if you’re bored by the topic, then why should anyone listening be interested? When you come out, have a smile on your face, make it seem like your happy and thankful to be there (even if you’d rather be in bed watching Netflix). If you feel confident enough to do so, add a little humour (as long as it’s appropriate). This will help you and your audience relax, and break the ice if the room is feeling a little tense or unfriendly.

Learn from your mistakes (and successes)

Every time you give a presentation, take some time afterwards to think about what worked and what failed. If it went well, consider what made it go well. If it went badly, analyse where and how it went wrong so that next time you can change your strategy and ensure the same thing doesn’t happen again.

Embrace the challenge

Public speaking is part of the life of a research scientist, and you should take every possible opportunity to advocate your work. What is the point of making scientific discoveries (big or small) if no one knows about them?

The best way to deal with the (sometimes unfortunate) need to speak publicly is to embrace it, realise how it will help you and your audience, and enjoy the conversation that it sparks.

5 Useful Public Speaking Tips to Help You.

5 Useful Public Speaking Tips to Help You.

Whether you’re delivering presentations in front of colleagues, teaching industry workshops, or stepping on stage at a local or national conference, you’ve probably come across the same public-speaking advice one million times: “Picture them naked!” “Practice!” “Make eye contact!” There are better tips out there , here are just some: 

 

1. Remember: It’s Not Actually About You

I know it feels like it’s about you. You’re the one coming up with the topic, doing all the work to prepare, and walking around slightly terrified for weeks in advance.

But here’s what it’s actually about: what you can teach your audience.

When you take the emphasis off of you and place it on the message you want to deliver, everything changes. You pay less attention to what people think about you, and more attention to what you can teach them. You focus less on being “perfect,” and more on being authentic. You worry less about image, and more about truth.

You think less about you. You think more about them.

That’s how the most thought-provoking, compelling speeches (think: TED! ) come to life.

2. Get to Know What Fear Feels Like in Your Body

I don’t care how many times you meditate, practice, or envision the stage in the weeks leading up to your event: You will be afraid. You will have adrenaline pumping through your body. Your fight or flight will kick in, and you will seriously consider the latter.

We’re so afraid of being afraid—especially with 350 eyeballs on us—that we try to cure it ahead of time. When the curing doesn’t work and we end up on stage, still terrified, we panic. When we panic, we spend so much focus and energy trying to not pass out, we deliver speeches we don’t feel so great about.

Instead of spending precious prep time trying to get over your fear of public speaking, get to know it instead. What happens to your body when you’re afraid? Do you talk super fast? Get distracted? Feel like you’re going to barf?

Once you’ve identified what fear feels like in your body...

3. Proactively Soothe That Fear

In an interview with Lindsey Stanberry of Refinery29, Chris Anderson, head of TED , explained that before an event he was especially nervous for, he went into the stairwell and did push-ups. Burning off some of his adrenaline or nervous energy helped him feel both calm and confident.

And in an interview with Entrepreneur, Simon Sinek, author and public speaker , says that when he gets nervous, he tells himself: “You’re not nervous, you’re excited.” He noticed that when Olympic athletes were interviewed after events and asked if they were tense beforehand, they all replied that they were excited, not anxious. He explains how the simple reframe in his brain changes his attitude toward what he’s about to do, which soothes his nerves.

Marc Randolph, co-owner of Netflix, told CNBC that he’s done enough speeches to know that he’ll be terrified 15 minutes prior to the event, but that after two minutes on stage, he’ll get comfortable. So when he feels nervous, he reminds himself that he just needs to get two minutes in, and then all will be well.

No one can tell you what soothes your fear better than you. So get to know that fear of yours—especially how it manifests in your body—and then plan to include those comforting activities into your prep.

For example, I always build in an extra 20 minutes to track down a bottle of seltzer. This may sound like the most ridiculous soothing mechanism out there, but, for me, it works.

4. Prepare for Some Not-So-Friendly Faces

When I took the stage at an event in LA a few weeks ago, I found those friendly faces—you know, the ones who public-speaking advice experts tell you to pick out in the audience and then concentrate on. But here’s what most people leave out of that sage piece of advice: Sprinkled between the nodding heads, beaming faces, and encouraging smiles are inevitably going to be a few people who look like they would like you leave the stage, like, immediately.

Whether you’re talking to 40 people or 400 people, there are a few unfriendly faces in every crowd. Whatever reason for the face—impatience, chronic RBF , general disinterest—you have no control over it. If you try to spend all your energy trying to win them over, you’ll end up distracted and deflated.

Instead, know in advance that they exist and are unavoidable; plan to make eye contact with the beaming, nodding, smiling faces that’ll also be there.

5. Don’t Be Afraid to Go Rogue

Who loves listening to speakers read notes off a PowerPoint presentation? No one.

I know you want to make sure you’re prepared and don’t forget anything, but if you read notes out loud for a full hour, your audience isn’t going to connect with you or absorb what you’re telling them.

During my event in LA a few weeks ago, I did not take my own advice. I had a ton of information I wanted to cram into an hour-long session and so, against my better judgment, I wrote myself a script and then tried really hard to pretend I wasn’t reading it. (Of course, I was.)

15 minutes in, my computer went black. After gathering myself, I went rogue—and was so much better for it. Yes, I forgot things. Yes, I had to pause twice to think about what I wanted to say next. But I was able to deliver all that information authentically, focus on the main points I wanted the audience to walk away with, and better engage with them by being truly present and engaging myself.

Here’s my suggestion: Write your main points on your slides. Have a piece of paper with the key pieces of information you want to get across in front of you. Practice, practice, practice. And then, when you step on that stage—even if your brain feels blank—trust that you know the material well enough (because at this point, you totally do!). Start talking.

If you’ve never spoken in public before and are waiting for the “right time” to pitch yourself, there is no right time. If there’s an industry conference you’d love to speak at, a local event you’ve envisioned standing on stage at for years or a team presentation you’d like to take the lead on, write a compelling pitch (or email to your boss!) and throw your hat in the ring. You’ll be terrified. But if you follow this advice, you’ll also be incredible.

  

We’ll start with 9 specific tips that’ll help you improve your skills as a speaker!

Improving Your Public Speaking Skills.

We’ll start with 9 specific tips that’ll help you improve your skills as a speaker!

 

1. Slow Down

Most inexperienced speakers talk faster on stage than they realize – and it’s completely understandable.

When you’re giving your talk, you’re nervous, anxious, and you’re trying to hold all the information you need to present in your head. All you want to do is get through your speech so you can get off the stage and go someplace where people can’t judge you.

Unfortunately, this can cause you to rush through your speech far too quickly, which make the information you’re presenting hard to understand. Some people will say, “Speak half as fast as you think you need to,” – either way, just be conscious that you probably need to slow down.

2. Pay Attention to Your Body Language

If you paid close attention to that fake TED talk, you probably also noticed that Guy Pearce’s character employs excellent body language during his speech.

Body language is important for a couple of reasons:

Non-verbal communication – of which your body language is a large part – compliments verbal communication. Your posture, the way you hold yourself, the way you move your hands… all these facets of body language can help to refine and reinforce what you’re talking about. Body language that you’re not aware of can hurt you. Most of us have little nervous tics that we do without noticing; mine was putting my hand in and out of my pocket over and over. I’d also pace around the room too much.

For reference, here’s a list of some common nervous tics you can watch out for:

Pacing back and forth or “wandering the stage”

Tapping your feet

Touching your face or playing with your hair

Fidgeting with your fingers

Playing with your pockets or other parts of your clothes or jewelry

Rubbing the back of your neck

Looking back at your slides too often

Swinging your arms back and forth

If you can pinpoint and eliminate the nervous tics you do unconsciously and learn to utilize intentional gestures for dramatic effect, you’ll be able to hold the audience’s attention much more effectively.

3. Make Eye Contact

When you’re speaking on stage, you’re addressing everyone in the room – each person sitting in a seat (and maybe standing if you’re really popular) is part of the audience.

Unfortunately, many inexperienced speakers get nervous and fixate on one section of the audience during their entire presentation. Don’t do this.

Instead, regularly move your gaze to different parts of the audience, making sure you move over the entire audience during your talk. Try to make eye contact with people all throughout the room.

Now, I know this can be scary. You’re already nervous enough that you’re on stage – making direct eye contact with people can add more anxiety to the equation!

These people are far back enough that they probably can’t tell if you’re making direct eye contact or not, and you can still comfortably move your head and focus on different parts of the audience.

However, even though this trick works well, I challenge you to try to make eye contact with at least a few people during your next talk. Doing this gets easier and easier with practice, and it makes you seem more human when you’re speaking.

4. Practice, Practice, Practice… Ad Infinitum

…well, maybe not that much. But you should practice your material an awful lot before stepping on stage.

When it comes to practice, you goal is not to do it until you get your speech right; your goal should be to practice until you can’t get it wrong.

Anxiety can block your brain from making connections, but mastering your material will help you avoid that adverse effect. Additionally, mastery will help you cut down on a lot of anxiety in the first place. If you know exactly what you’re going to say, you’ll feel much more confident in front of the audience.

I think there’s a distinction to be made when it comes to this piece of advice. To be sure, you shouldn’t write your entire speech out and try to memorize it word-for-word. Doing that will make you sound like you’re reading.

However, I do think you should be able to get up on stage and deliver your speech without note cards. The way I achieve this is by writing my speech out in bullet points.

Each main point, clarification, and important fact will get a bullet point in my outline. The first few times I practice, I’ll have the whole outline in my hands so I can reference it.

After a few runs, though, the general outline and most of the details start to form a concrete picture in my head. At that point, I’ll practice without the outline.

Eventually, I’ll know all the details of my speech cold. When it comes time to present, I might not say all the exact words I said in previous practice runs, but I’ll still deliver all the information in a confident, practiced manner.

Now practice doesn’t just help with the individual speech you’re working on at the moment. In general, if you want to become an all-around better speaker, practice is once again the answer.

If you’re looking for a great environment to practice your speaking skills, see if there’s a local Toastmasters group in your area. I also high recommend taking a speech class if you’re in college.

5.Film Yourself

Here’s a way to practice more efficiently: Bring a video camera with you and film your practice runs.

For every speech I had to give in college, I did this. I’d venture out onto campus at night, find an empty classroom where no one could hear me, and practice my speech over and over again.

I wouldn’t film the first few runs; during those ones, I was just trying to learn all the material. After I’d done that, though, I’d start filming each run and reviewing it immediately afterward.

By doing this, I was able to pinpoint things I didn’t even notice I was doing – looking back at the slides, pacing too much, speaking too quickly, etc.

I believe each of the people in your audience falls into one of two different categories:

Supporters – people who care about you, are invested in your topic, and want see you succeed.

Bored people – those who would rather be elsewhere. Their minds are in the clouds, and whatever you do probably won’t affect them much.

 

Notice that neither of these categories includes people who will hate you, throw rotten food at you, or summon the spirit of Hades himself and curse your family for all eternity.

There’s a key realization you should have here. Your supporters are cheering you on through the good and bad; they’ll forgive your mistakes. The bored people are… bored. That means their opinions of you don’t matter.

Don’t let the potential reactions of bored people cause you unnecessary anxiety during your speech.

After the speech is over, you can take any constructive criticism into account for future performances.

7. Focus on Your Topic, Not Your Performance

When you’re developing your speech, try to get invested in the topic and focus on the transformation you want it to have on your audience. It’s amazing just how much less scary a talk is once you focus on your audience and figure out exactly what you want to deliver to them.

Once you do that, you’re no longer thinking so much about the technical aspects of your performance – your eye contact, body language, whether or not your fly is down, etc. When you’re really invested in your topic, your speech becomes almost as easy as simply explaining something to a friend in a casual setting.