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More people are afraid of public speaking than of dying. A fear that extreme is debilitating and without a doubt will keep you from progressing in your career. However, with the right set of skills you can conquer your fear. Once you overcome your apprehension to speaking in front of others, the goal is to become engaging. The first part of the equation will require you to do some in-depth analysis, hypnosis and possibly finding your inner child. Once you can stand in front of others without trembling, come back here and read this post. The following are some simple tips that will make you more comfortable when it is time to solicit visitors attending a tradeshow, present quarterly sales projections to senior management or speak to an auditorium of shareholders.
Practice
Run through your presentation with your friends and family. Think about your audience and tailor your diction and presentation style to them. Try and visualize making the speech. Picture yourself confident with a clear, loud voice and your audience engaged and alert. It is important not to over practice. If you have planned every minute detail and make a minor mistake it will completely through you off your repeatedly rehearsed sequence. Concentrate the bulk of your practice on the introduction and the conclusion. It is very important to make a strong start and a memorable finish.
Prepare
Wear something you feel confident in. Get comfortable with the space you will be presenting in. Practice getting up out of your chair and moving to the front of the room. This will help, mistakes in the first 20 seconds can be especially disorientating. Take a public speaking course through or join a local Toastmaster’s chapter. Think of the questions that could arise from your topic, anticipate them and prepare responses. Doing this will avoid a situation where you are caught off guard. Familiarize yourself with the topic, outside the contents of your speech. This extra knowledge will enable you to field inquiries and feel more confident if one of your audience members is an expert. Test the equipment, make sure everything is in the right format flip through each slide and make sure the corresponding visual and auditory elements are working correctly.
Master Visual Aids
When presenting with slides or other graphics, charts, explanatory pictures, videos etc. keep it simple. The objective of using these elements is they will help you portray your message without you having to talk the whole time. They will hopefully highlight the big picture while you focus on the finer details.
