Three Techniques to Become a Confident Public Speaker

2009-11-11 19:37:53

Even experienced managers can feel uncomfortable about speaking in public or making a presentation, but there are three simple, practical methods that anyone can learn to overcome this feeling.

If you feel tense when you need to make a speech or a presentation doesn t worry about it. Even experienced, senior people can often feel uneasy before speaking and for new entries to the workforce the experience can be terrifying. But the good news is that there are some simple, practical techniques that anyone can learn to take the stress out of speaking. I know because I speak from firsthand experience. I can still remember the days when I really hoped I would be struck by lightning before it was my turn to speak, yet now I deliberately seek out speaking opportunities.

FIRST of all, the most important thing to learn is to prepare. If you have not prepared for a presentation you will probably feel very uncertain and rightly so. To avoid this make sure you have at least some time to prepare what you are going to say. Even five minutes is better than nothing and will make a real difference.

You should think about what you are going to say and make notes of at least the key words in each section. But more importantly you should prepare well and memorize the first words and the conclusion. Research shows that people remember best the beginning and the end. In addition, if you can start strongly people won t mind if you glance at your notes later or get momentarily stuck. In fact if you have no time for anything else at least think through what you are going to say at the beginning. Even when you are presenting a standard speech you have delivered many times before still take the time to run through the first words before it is your turn to speak. You can do this practice silently in a corner of the room, or better still out loud as you drive to the venue.

Part of preparing is to prepare for the unexpected. Maybe you were expecting to speak for 30 minutes and at the last minute you are given just five. Or maybe you expected a junior audience and you actually have a roomful of senior managers. Try to imagine all the possible scenarios and ask yourself what you would do. Take special care about technical problems. Don t assume that projectors and DVD players will work. Make sure that you have a plan B that can be delivered with no support or maybe just a flip chart.

SECOND, try to make contact with the audience before you speak. This makes a difference for two reasons. To begin with you will feel more confident if you have established contact with a few of the people listening. In addition it allows them to focus more on what you are saying without wondering who you are and if you are worth listening to. To make contact make sure that you are in the room early so you get a chance to talk to the others as they arrive or in a coffee break. If your slot is in a conference maybe you also get a chance to meet some people at dinner the day before. Never miss these chances. You should also try to get someone else to introduce you, this boosts your credibility and means that the audience begins to listen to you with an open and positive mindset that you won t get if you introduce yourself.

FINALLY, the easiest way to become a confident speaker is to speak often. Never reject an opportunity to speak unless you really can t make it because of scheduling conflicts. Through experience you will master the techniques and tricks mentioned here and also learn how to deal with surprises. But one last piece of advice: unless you are planning a career in TV or politics don t waste your time videoing your presentations to look for flaws. This is a useful tool for your presentation skills coach but in my experience it is too discouraging for personal use. Since you are not used to seeing and hearing yourself any video will seem disappointing even if the event it records was actually well presented. So put the camera away and focus on the person-to-person delivery, which is very different from television