It has been said that the number one fear for people is public speaking. Death, apparently, ranks lower on the list. Therefore, as the old Seinfeld joke goes, if you find yourself at a funeral you would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.
It doesn’t have to be that bad; for many, getting up at the front of the room is an enjoyable experience. It can be an adrenaline rush, an opportunity to shine and show those who are fortunate enough to be in the room with you that you know your material.
Public speaking is a skill that can serve you well in many facets of life, from delivering board room presentations in your job to toasting your friends at a wedding; and here’s the good news – public speaking is a skill that can be learned.
With this in mind, here are seven public speaking tips for beginners:
Know your material
Regardless of the topic, it is critical that you know what you are talking about before you hit the stage. Getting up there and “winging it” is a recipe for disaster. You need to be the expert and know your material so that if everything goes wrong around you – and things will go wrong – you can continue on.
Audio-visual glitches, strange noises, weird questions, people answering cell phones, fire alarms, and everything else under the sun can happen during a speech, so be prepared. Knowing your material so that you can speak confidently on the topic is your best weapon against unforeseen circumstances.
Know your audience
Telling the “two rabbis, a priest and a donkey walk into a bar...” joke might get a laugh at the local pub, but it might not play as well in a ballroom with a conservative audience. Part of knowing your material is also knowing your audience and understanding how you can connect with them. If you have been hired to give a speech, make sure to speak with the buyer at length about their audience, their expectations for the speech, and their expected outcomes.
If you have not been hired to give a speech, but are doing so for a special event, research others who have given similar speeches and listen to them. Find people who have given speeches in the genre, and find out what works and what doesn’t for your type of audience.
Presence is everything
People have short attention spans these days, and distractions are everywhere; from BlackBerrys (or as many professional speakers refer to them, “CrackBerrys”) to iPhones, iPads, and iPods, you will be fighting to keep your audience’s attention from the first word.
Your strongest ally in maintaining their attention is to have a compelling presence from the platform. This doesn’t mean you have to yell, but a strong, commanding voice and a confident, easy manner make a huge difference when presenting to a room full of people. If you are nervous, conservative, and quiet from the front of the room, you will lose people quickly. You are better to actively engage your audience and make a few mistakes than you are to be perfect but meek and boring.
There is a common phrase that many professional speakers live by: “audiences won’t always remember what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.” So make your audiences feel something, be it happiness, inspiration, sorrow, or joy. If you find a way to emotionally involve your audience they won’t spend half the presentation playing Farmville on their iPhones; instead, you’ll have them in the palm of your hand.
If the occasion calls for it, one other way to guarantee participation is through audience interaction. If it makes sense, add in an activity that gets people involved. Interaction is an easy way to make people laugh, and it gives them an energizing break from sitting still.
Practice, practice, practice
In Anthony Robbins’s excellent self-help book, Awaken the Giant Within, he stated that “repetition is the mother of skill.” In order to be a good speaker, you need to speak.
Public speaking is like any other skill; you wouldn’t expect to be an outstanding guitar player the first time you pick up a guitar. Nor should you have an expectation that you will be an outstanding public speaker the first time you get up in front of an audience.
If improving your public speaking skill is your goal, speak wherever and whenever you can. Practicing at home in front of your mirror or for your dog has value, but don’t discount the importance of getting up in front of people. Your mirror (or your dog) will almost always agree with you, while people in an audience might not. You control the variables when you practice at home, but in a room full of people the situation changes. So speak as much as possible if becoming a good speaker is what you are shooting for.
Join groups such as Toastmasters, or if you plan on making a career from the spoken word, go to a National Speakers Association (NSA) meeting (in the USA; in Canada seek out the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS), and in the UK, look for the Public Speaking Association (PSA). If you live in other parts of the world, go to the Global Speakers Federation to find your member association).
One thing to look out for when practicing is pacing. Beginning speakers often rush due to nerves or adrenaline – try to avoid this. Slow down. Find a comfortable, natural pace that works for you. Certainly do add in inflection and pacing changes if the content calls for it (for example, if you are telling an intense, compelling story, have the audience hang on every word; whereas if you are telling a story about being chased down a mountain by six bears and an avalanche of boulders, feel free to speed it up and capture the spirit of the moment); but as a general rule, slow down and find the right pace for you.
Be a storyteller
People react well to stories, anecdotes, and real-world examples. If you can pull people in with a great story to illustrate your point, you are far more likely to capture their attention than you will with a wall of charts and graphs.
Practice your stories and work on your delivery. The world’s best speakers, from Bill Clinton to Tony Robbins, Les Brown to Dr. Wayne Dyer, and everyone in between, are great storytellers. Listen to great speakers as a part of your routine and learn from their pacing, inflection, and ability to deliver a great story. Most speakers will tell you that their signature stories, the ones that sound effortless, took countless hours of practice to perfect them.
Check out the room before you speak
Going to the room ahead of time will allow you to visualize the room and prepare accordingly. If using A/V equipment, check out where it will be set up and find out if you need extension cords or other additional equipment to suit the room.
Find out everything you need to know about the room before you get there to present, eliminating the possibility for unpleasant surprises; if you were planning to show a live website in your presentation but the room doesn’t have an internet connection, your presentation can be derailed quickly, and no audience wants to watch a presenter fumble around with their computer or A/V equipment during the presentation. Know what you are walking in to before you present; it will make a world of difference.
Have fun
Positive energy is infectious. If you are enjoying your time at the front of the room, the audience will want to go along with you. By the time you get on the platform, it’s too late (and counterproductive) to worry about things. So enjoy the experience, have fun, and take pleasure in the fact that you are sharing something of value with those around you.
Paul de Burger - Paul de Burger is from Toronto, Canada. His writing has been published in the Singapore Straits-Times, Summerland Review, Retail ...
