Giving a speech in public can be pretty scary. I should know, I have stage fright! That’s why I’m jealous of speakers who can confidently address the audience and get their full attention. Aren’t they amazing?
I wonder if they also experience having butterflies in their stomachs or worse, having an upset stomach due to public speaking!
Well, I don’t like being envious of them and being frightened or stressed to speak in front of a crowd all my life. There must be some ways I can resolve this problem of mine.
If you can relate to my dilemma, then why don’t we join forces and try to overcome this weakness? We can try these tips from lots of different people who are experts in giving speeches:
First, we have to believe in ourselves.
Be confident. We are facing the audience because the ones who asked us to do so saw the potential in us. They believe that we are very much capable of conveying an important message to people.
Second, we have to get complete information about the topic of our speech.
We need to research on that. We must be fully prepared so that we can answer any possible questions people in the crowd may throw on us. I, for one, just can’t take it if I’m unable to answer queries. Should that happen, I think I’d wish I’d just disappear off the face of the earth!
Third, we have to think of punch lines, memorable lines, or jokes that will help us catch and hopefully hold the attention of our listeners.
Yet let’s still make our speech appear original. And in some occasions, we can also use remarkable or sentimental quotes and stories- just in case we want to touch their hearts and minds.
Fourth, we should seek the opinions of people who are adept in having speeches.
If we can’t find them, we can ask the help of our friends. If they find that our speech is pretty horrible, well, let’s not get angry. It’s better to take their criticisms positively because they are doing it for our own good. So we should swallow our pride when negative remarks become plenty. Just think of it as our friends’ way of helping us improve our speech and develop as speakers.
Fifth, we have to make the delivery of our lines clear and natural.
The best way to do it? Practice not just once or twice, but many times! This will also prevent us from stammering and mumbling. We should also learn the right time to make a pause. It can make or break a speech!
Sixth, we need to take lots of deep breaths to make our nervousness disappear.
Being tense to the point of getting panicky (and in worst scenarios- fainting because of it) could be one of the most shameful things that could happen to us. Don’t get me wrong. Being nervous at the start of our speech is actually a normal thing among speakers, but being nervous until the end of our speech is not normal at all! We can also use our imagination or pretend that our stuffed toys (especially if we have lots of them) are our real crowd. It will help us get used to the feeling of being in front of many people.
Seventh, we must learn something from the experience.
If our speech is successful, let’s go out and celebrate! And how about if it was a terrible one? Well, let’s just shrug our shoulders and strive to make the next speech a better one. Let’s take note of the mistakes we’ve done and try to improve and improve the next time we need to talk in front of people.
Just practice and practice, and learn and learn. That will boil down to one thing- experience. And as they say, experience will eventually make it perfect.
