Fear of public speaking a common phobia that even seemingly successful business people, actors, or politicians can suffer under. However, the ability to deliver an exceptional presentation is a powerful tool in the business world, and in life.
Good communication skills are the basis for a good presentation, but there is far more it than this.
The following tips are designed to help you overcome your fears, re-inforce confidence, and provide practical pointers to creating the perfect presentation.
1. Feel the Fear, and Do It Anyway
In order to move forward in life we must take the tentative first steps away from what is familiar, and safe – our comfort zone.
This is very rarely easy, and more often than not, can involve fear of failure, rejection, and disappointment (of both ourselves, and others).
However, fear of something is generally never as bad as the actual reality; our fear of the dark is negated once the light goes on, and fear of failure can propel you onto greatness in any endeavour.
If you are literally paralysed by fear of public speaking, then consider enlisting the help of professionals such as, a hypnotist, a public speaking coach, or meditation expert who can help you to relax and feel more comfortable with the idea of public speaking.
Communication training will help improve your influencing abilities, your assertiveness, your vocal competence, your use of language, and of course your ability to interact with others in a one-to-one, or group setting.
Once you’ve overcome a little of your fear (or at least, held it in check long enough to speak and function) then try a few small public speaking tasks to improve your confidence further.
2. Practice Makes Perfect
Once your confidence has improved, and your fear of public speaking is firmly under control, it is essential that you practice public speaking.
There is an art to speaking well and engaging an audience, which very few of us possess naturally, even those who seem like they are totally comfortable with it, practice their art frequently.
Advance preparation before any public speaking is always advisable. Write out your speech, practice in front of a mirror, speak clearly, and out loud, as if you were doing the speech itself.
Ideally, one hour of practice for each minute you are speaking should be enough to perfect your techniques, speech patterns, pauses and emphasis.
If you can, try having a run through in front of a small audience that you trust to give you honest feedback. Listen to what they say and try to adapt where necessary.
3. Captivate your Audience
The best public speakers don’t speak for themselves, they speak for their audience. They can captivate, and engage with them, through their storytelling abilities, and their knack for finding a common ground with their spectators.
Great public speakers don’t talk about themselves, they tailor their speech to fit their audience. Ask yourself, what is likely to be important to this audience? What will make them engage with what I am saying?
Remember to link back to the audience within your presentation by telling them how certain elements matter to them, and what is important they take from your speech.
Research is an essential element of any good presentation – research your topic thoroughly and research your target audience as much as possible in advance so that you can appeal to their specific background, interests, or circumstances.
4. A Good Start
Most people make up their mind if what they are hearing is interesting within the first few minutes.
Ensuring you get a good start to your presentation is essential and can best be done one of two ways:
• Anecdotal – tell a story that captures your listeners by having a human interest theme
• Analogy – use imagery to describe abstract ideas as this is more captivating for your audience
Avoid starting a presentation with humour as it can easily be misunderstood or overlooked if your audience isn’t with you 100%. Save the funny tales, or embarrassing stories for a little later in your speech.
Remember to create a structure to your presentation that follows the natural rhythm of speech. There should be highs, and lows, speed and slowness, within a speech so that your audience can follow your intention more readily.
5. Powerpoint Presentations
‘Powerpoint’ is an amazing tool for supporting and emphasising essential information contained within your speech. It is not a crutch that offers all the information without you needing to open to your mouth.
Minimise text on Powerpoint slides, have interesting, relevant images, and connect with your audience by making frequent eye contact, as opposed to reading from your Powerpoint slides.
Consider your Powerpoint to be similar to a news flash that contains an engaging image, and a headline for vital information. You are the news reader who provides the rest of the bulk of the information.
The best communicators in the world are those who can keep their audience rapt through their ability to engage with each and every one of them on some level.
Learning to communicate with skill and ease takes time, effort and practice, but the rewards can be huge and well worth the determination.
Recent Comments