Public speaking skills come natural to some people whilst others seem to have to work their entire life to gain the confidence to speak in front of a group of people. Whether it be a work meeting or wedding speech, there is no doubt that having good public speaking skills allows others to respect you and often think of you as a highly confident, successful person.

There are several ways to improve your public speaking skills. By utilizing a variety of methods and techniques your confidence will greatly improve.

The first is of course to be prepared for your speech! There is nothing worse than being lost for words so make sure you jot down your main points of conversation and of course revise them many times. You don’t want to be constantly reading from your cards or paper so you’ll need to have a good idea of what you are going to talk about and in what order.

The second way to minimize nervousness is to make eye contact with the audience whilst you are speaking. You may think that this will make you nervous however it’s the best way to gauge your audience. You will often find yourself becoming more relaxed as you see people in the crowd smiling and nodding. This gives you the momentum you need to kick on confidently with your speech.

Use visual aids such as PowerPoint presentations, slides and projectors to divert attention to what you are saying rather than to you yourself. Depending on the nature of your speech (obviously this won’t apply say in a wedding situation), you can often demonstrate your words more clearly with images or diagrams. People will also enjoy this interaction.

Practice your speech in front of various people before the big day. Family and friends will give honest opinions on your format, presentation and the speech itself. Once you iron out the bad points, you’ll only have good points left and this will leave you feeling confident.

It is very common for people to talk rapidly during their speech when nervous. The audience can pick up on this, so you will want to be conscious of your speed. Make use of pauses throughout the speech so you don’t become out of breath and race through the presentation.

Public speaking skills are far from impossible to master. Practice and confidence is all you need to conquer your fear of public speaking.

Fear of public speaking (official called glossophobia) is a highly common occurrence.

It is actually believed that glossophobia is the most common phobia in the world! Many people are actually more scared of public speaking than they are of dying. If only they knew that conquering this fear is not as hard or frightening as one might think.

Even some famous people have admitted to suffering from social phobia or fear of performance. They include Barbara Streisand, Dusty Springfield and Peter Gabriel. These people still put on performances despite their fear, so how do they do it?

Without a doubt they have gone through some sort of public speaking training. This is mandatory if you know you have to speak publicly on a regular basis but are afraid to do so.

Some symptoms of public speaking fear include sweating, shaking and rapid heart beat in the moments, hours or even days leading up to the speech or event. Difficulty in sleeping and loss of appetite are extreme symptoms of glossophobia. Often all thoughts are focused on the speech and this makes a person even more nervous as they are constantly thinking about failure rather than thinking positively about it.

Fear of public speaking can be brought upon by past events in which a traumatic incident occurred, such as someone laughing at a person as they gave a speech or perhaps a speech not going quiet as planned. This sort of event can result in years of self doubt when it comes to giving more speeches.

To conquer your fear of public speaking you must be prepared to tackle it head on. You need to continue speaking publicly as this will give you practice. If you shy away then your confidence will only wane. Practice speaking in front of groups of friends and family. Often this can actually be harder than speaking in front of strangers so if you feel confident here then you are well on your way to beating the fear of public speaking.

There are also special support groups set up for people who want to improve their speaking skills. You can take classes at night or on weekends. You should be confident in knowing that you will have support from your classmates and that you wont be judged.

Being afraid of performing or speaking is not something to be ashamed about. As long as you have realized your fear and begin taking steps to conquer it then you will without a doubt become a much more competent and confident person.

super polishes speakers are detested when you want audience to feel your authenticity

I made a mistake on the stage once where I actually said then you can be like god!

one participant actually signed up for the program I helped to sell because he said I was flawed!

part and parcel of being human. of course I apologised for the rude remark

but the fact remains that I am not perfect. I am human . I make mistakes like everyone else. I am not above anyone

you need to pace your talk so that there is sufficient variety

this the MTV era

there is TV even on the bus!

you need to overcome stimulus numbness

vary these things in your talk

speed of speaking

tone

pauses

gestures

facial expression

wake em up activities

partner share methods

visual aids

their comfort levels – chair? walk about? run about? stand? lean? psuh? pull?

always include state changes in your presentation

simple as raising their hand to answer a question

conversing with their partner

high fives!

look at each other and say something

repeating something you said

ask them a question and wait for a response

make them fill in a blank

demand the response!

start a story

make the audience laugh – they will feel left out

the concept of pacing and leading

if the audience feels a general state of sloth, dun go in with the ra ra thing unless they are expecting it

use a gradient – frog in the pot concept

turn up the heat slowly on them

let them feel an expectation before leading them into a state

use a lead in and build up before the intended outcome (punchline)

Arnold says it is the last few reps of the exercise that makes the muscle grow

all the other reps only prep the muscle for the final few so the muscle does not tear

anthony robbins say you need to set yourself up for success

gradually increase the difficulty. keep the outcome in mind, but stay flexible on how you want to get there.

2 ways to make it grow

one is to super stretch – disobey hooks law

one is to increase gradually so you feel good with each level of growth

what are the traditional rules:

no erms and ahs…

have vocal variety

use gestures

use the space of the stage

memorize your script

New rules:

relate the audience to you – fumbling speaker endears crowd with personal story

be authentic so audience trusts you

always have a call to action or leave them feeling a particular way

basketball – dribbling, shooting, passing

everything else makes you a pro on the court but you first need to just master the foundation to be a valuable player

speaking

need enthusiasm, heart, eliminate bad habits

“How many of you relate to that?”