Nervousness takes the stage when you’re actually on a stage, holding a speech? Or supposed to be holding a speech and you’re just frozen there?
Talking in front of an audience may sound frightening at first but with a few easy steps, you too will feel more at ease when speaking in public.
Talk to the room
Study the place where you have to deliver your speech. Try rehearsing it there; it will give you more confidence and it’s also easier to asses whether you have to speak louder than what you are used to.
Step two of this exercise is to picture your audience there. If you can look at those imaginary faces and still talk, don’t worry, you’re on the right track!
Organize yourself
It’s good to be organized especially if you get the heebie-jeebies when you have to speak in public. And it’s not just about organizing your speech, it’s about organizing yourself. Make sure you have everything done in due time. Prepare your speech, lay out your clothes, iron them and leave home earlier to make sure you’ll be there on time.
If you want your presentation to be at its peak, you have to be undisturbed so try to avoid last minute stress that can be caused by the most minuscule things. Otherwise, you won’t be able to concentrate on delivering your presentation.
Photo by David Drexler on Flickr
Eliminate all distractions
Put yourself in front. Treat your speech like the most important issue at hand. Try to work at it undisturbed by other tasks, worries and other people. Write it and focus on writing it- it will help you memorize it.
No cell phone, no e-mail, just writing and practicing your speech. You can try using the Pomodoro technique if you want to have a more precise count of how efficient you are.
Photo by underminingme on Flickr
Make sure you’re comfortable with what you will say
Research the topic you will speak about and make sure you build your speech according to the things you believe in. When you talk about the things that you enjoy and believe in, the audience will certainly notice your involvement. Passion will weigh heavily on your credibility.
Also, make sure you rehearse the speech enough. Practice it as much as you need to feel at ease about it. If you don’t like something, change it. Just don’t do it in the last minute cause you won’t remember it.
Photo by usarmyafrica on Flickr
And there are a great deal of other things you could do. These things are a bit general, however, they are key aspects that you should take notice of. Stress (usually self-induced) is our worst enemy in many situations and this includes public speaking. Make yourself as comfortable as you can with the room, with the speech and give it your best. And always remember: there is no failure, there is just a lesson to be learned.
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