Public Speaking Tips
I’ve been a public speaker for 27 years, I’ve given speeches to audiences as big as 12,000 people. Whether it’s for school or business we all get a little nervous when it comes to public speaking. Follow my tips to become a more confident and better speaker.
When you become a better public speaker you have the ability to influence other people. Martin Luther King is one of the most dynamic speakers in history. The other end of the spectrum is Hitler, unfortunately he was a dynamic speaker who influenced a large amount of people.
It is a bad idea to get on stage without an idea of what you will be speaking about. When you get up on stage without any idea of what to say makes you look unprepared and disrespectful.
The best speakers with have an outline of their speeches. To make your speech sound natural use bullet points as opposed to writing everything down and reading it word for word.
If you are nervous try using the Mind Palace technique. If you can visit the venue before or look it up online to get the layout. Put your bullet points in prominent areas in the room so as you look around you can naturally flow through your speech.
My next tip is to stay relaxed. When you get up to give your speech without being relaxed you rush though and talk faster. Remind yourself to talk slow.
Remember when you get on stage everyone in the room wants you to succeed. Too many times we get it in our heads that the people in front of us want us to fail, in reality that’s just not true.
Get to know the people you are giving the speech to. Learn their names so that during your speech you can look around the room and call on one of them by name. This makes you look confident and knowledgeable and makes the audience feel like they are a part of your speech.
During your speech remember to look around to make eye contact with your audience. If making direct eye contact makes you nervous trying looking over their heads. Remember to look around so that you keep your audience engaged.
Another way to keep your audience engaged is to ask questions you know the answers to. By this simple act of involving the audience will keep them interested in what you have to say.
Public speaking doesn’t have to be scary if you follow these simple tips. For more tips watch my YouTube video below.