Being able to speak confidently to an audience
Public speaking can be difficult for someone who is not accustomed to doing so. You know what you want to say, but when you look out into an audience and you see one hundred eyes staring back at you, it can be intimidating. Speaking with confidence in front of a group of people is not impossible. Here are a few tips to help you gain the confidence you need to sweep your audience off of their feet.
Attach yourself to the hip of a good orator. Listen to the flow of their speech and learn the tools they use to captivate an audience. Try to use ice-breakers while addressing the crowd. Ice-breakers can come in the form of a joke or asking members of the audience to tell you a little bit about themselves. There are many tools and tips that a well rounded orator can teach you. Stick to them like glue and learn from their experience.
Preparing for an upcoming speech is the most important step in confidence building. If you are familiar with the topics that will be covered within the duration of your speech, you can probably get away with preparing notes that will keep you on point. If you are giving a speech where the material is not familiar to you, it is suggested writing the speech in it's entirety.
Recite your speech, while using your notes or written version, in front of friends or family. Try to keep eye contact with your audience while using your notes for reference. If you are going to give your speech straight from it's written form - read and make intermittent eye contact with your audience. Read your written version until you have it memorized. This will help you give your speech while maintaining eye contact with your audience.
Record your performance and play it back to yourself to determine the value of your speech. Hearing yourself speak will help you enhance the quality of your speech. Were you too quiet? Was your speech poorly written? Do you over-use slang like "uh" and "um"? Sometimes we are the best critics of our own performances.
Initiating conversation with people, who are outside of your comfort zone, will help you gain the confidence you need to speak in front of unfamiliar people.
Whether you are giving a speech or you have a job where public speaking is a necessity - practice makes perfect.
